


The Haikyuu!! Christmas Special

by MidnightBlack227



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Christmas Fluff, Christmas Party, Domestic Fluff, Fluff, Gen, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-01
Updated: 2017-12-31
Packaged: 2019-02-26 00:28:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 20,330
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13224399
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MidnightBlack227/pseuds/MidnightBlack227
Summary: Just some fluffy short stories based on Christmas and winter activities. Ships in the description.





	1. Introduction

Happy Holidays, guys! I hope you all are having a fun-filled time as much as these guys are going to have. I’ll be going through the ships listed below with a collection of winter activities in the form of some fluffy short stories in Part One, and then in Part Two, they’ll all come together and celebrate Christmas morning (at Iwa-chan’s house) with a huge breakfast and gift opening.   
Enjoy, and happy holidays!  
~Midnight


	2. Table of Contents

1\. Introduction  
2\. Prologue – That’s Christmas To Me  
3\. Daichi x Suga - Cold Hands, Warm Heart  
4\. Kageyama x Hinata - Baking bad  
5\. Tsukki x Yamaguchi - Tsukki!!! on Ice  
6\. Iwaizumi x Oikawa - He’ll be Coming Down the Mountain  
7\. Kuroo x Kenma - Let It Snow  
8\. Interlude – Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas  
9\. Christmas Morning


	3. Prologue - That’s Christmas To Me

The fireplace is burning bright, shining along me  
I see the presents underneath the good old Christmas tree  
And I wait all night 'til Santa comes to wake me from my dreams  
Oh, why? 'Cause that's Christmas to me

I see the children play outside, like angels in the snow  
While him and I will share a kiss under the mistletoe  
And we'll cherish all these simple things wherever we may be  
Oh, why? 'Cause that's Christmas to me

I've got this Christmas song in my heart  
I've got the candles glowing in the dark  
I'm hanging all the stockings by the Christmas tree  
Oh, why? 'Cause that's Christmas to me  
Oh, why? 'Cause that's Christmas to me

I listen for the thud of reindeer walking on the roof  
As I fall asleep to lullabies, the morning's coming soon  
The only gift I'll ever need is the joy of family  
Oh, why? 'Cause that's Christmas to me

I've got this Christmas song in my heart (song in my heart)  
I've got the candles glowing in the dark  
I'm hanging all the stockings by the Christmas tree  
Oh, why? 'Cause that's Christmas to me  
Oh, why? 'Cause that's Christmas to me

Oh, the joy that fills our hearts and makes us see  
Oh, why? Cause that's Christmas to me

I've got this Christmas song in my heart  
I've got the candles glowing in the dark  
And then for years to come we'll always know one thing  
That's the love that Christmas can bring  
Oh, why? 'Cause that's Christmas to me

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Song credits: That's Christmas to Me (Pentatonix)


	4. Daichi x Sugawara - Cold Hands, Warm Heart

****

The bells were jingling, the air was cold but clear, and all around, there was a certain holiday cheerfulness going around. But Sugawara was feeling anything but cheerful as Daichi led him through the maze of merchants at the holiday market.

 

"Daichi," Suga whispered. "Stop holding my hand..."

 

Daichi turned around, looking at his boyfriend with dark and inquisitive eyes. "Why?"

 

"Because" Suga pulled his coat sleeves further down his arms. He blushed. "It's only been six months."

 

It had indeed only been six months after Daichi had officially decided him and Sugawara were a couple. That summer was pretty special for them. But Suga still wasn't very comfortable with this fact exposed in public. He felt it wasn't a good idea to announce this to the general public, so he tried to do everything he could to cover their relationship up. Suga knew this was a bad thing, but once he got that idea, that being with Daichi was something to be ashamed of, there was no going back.

 

"Oh, not this again," Daichi muttered, but let go of Suga's hand. He shifted his gaze to the bright lights and booths around them. There were so many; it would take a whole day to get through all of them. Which was why they had woken up early in the morning, and now with the setting sun they were almost done looking at everything.

 

Suga, now feeling relieved, pulled Daichi over to a booth selling scarves. He wrapped a beautiful dark orange, soft and warm scarf around his neck. "How does this look, Daichi?"

 

"Suga, you could wear a paper bag and you'd look prettier than anything in this world," Daichi replied effortlessly, shrugging.

 

Suga tugged the orange clothing off, over his head, and hung it back on the wooden rack. "Stop saying stuff like that." He muttered, ashamed.

 

Daichi was about to object but decided against it. "Would you look at that," He murmured, pointing to a street performer playing the violin in the falling snow. The girl couldn't have been older than Sugawara himself.

 

She was playing a cheerful and fast-paced song. Suga recognized it was the soundtrack to one of his favorite television shows.

 

"She's good. Really good. Not that I know anything about violin, but she's a great musician.," Suga agreed. "I wonder... how are her fingers not cold?" He asked, shoving his hands into his coat pockets. His hands were cold in the bitter winter air.

 

Daichi smiled. "She's wearing gloves. But they're fingerless. So, she can still play."

 

"I want gloves like that," Sugawara muttered. They looked pretty comfortable. And his hands were still cold, even inside his downy pockets.

 

"Get Akaashi to knit you some," Daichi replied. "I hear he knits."

 

"Akaashi knits?" Suga asked, confused. He raised an eyebrow, trying to think of Fukurodani's setter holding a ball of yarn in place of a volleyball.

 

Daichi shrugged. He pulled a few coins out of his wallet and placed them in the girl's violin case, which was emerald green and covered in stickers from various countries around the world. The girl grinned in thanks and continued playing.

 

Sugawara was drawn to a small booth selling glass magnets in all sorts of colors. They would go nicely with the fridge at home. One magnet was a beautiful shade of amethyst, while another glimmered ocean blue in the holiday lights. Daichi followed him, gazing at the shiny, metallic versions of the magnets. One copper, one rose gold, others silver. They were all beautiful.

 

"Look at how shiny these are," Daichi held up a gold magnet in the shape of a heart. He watched the magnet catch the rays of light and glimmer. "They're so cool."

 

Suga took the small heart from his boyfriend. "Yeah... Are we going to buy it?"

 

Daichi glanced at the paper card on the wall describing the prices and history of the cheerful little shop. "You chose three, and buy them as a set."

 

"Wow," Suga breathed, surprised. "These are all handmade. And they come engraved if you want."

 

"We could inscribe one each with our names, and one with, um," Daichi thought about what to engrave on the metal heart.

 

Suga picked out a medium-sized onyx magnet. "Karasuno?"

 

Daichi nodded in approval, taking the black magnet from Suga and placing all three in an organza bag. He brought the bag over to the boy near the engraving machine. The boy took the magnets, and Suga listed the phrases to be inscribed on the magnets. He placed the metal in the machine expertly and began to carve out the words. Sugawara watched and appreciated the delicate skill. So many talented but lesser-known artists came to this market to showcase their goods.

 

The boy handed the magnets, still warm from the machine, back to Daichi, who traded the craft with a few bills. He then passed the bag to Sugawara, who clutched it tightly in his hand.

 

They thanked the craftsman and moved onto the next stall, a brightly lit booth displaying handmade chocolates and fudge.

 

"Want a sample?" Daichi nudged Suga in the side. He knew just how much Sugawara loved candies like these.

 

Suga gazed longingly at a bar of creamy fudge but managed to keep his cravings to himself. It would look weird for someone of his age to be drooling over a piece of fudge.

 

He nodded grimly, determined not to give in to the cries of his stomach. "Just a sample, then. Only a sample."

 

Daichi laughed. He knew where this was going.

 

A shy young girl handed Suga a bit of fudge on a stick. "Chocolate." She murmured.

 

Suga took the sample carefully from the girl and tried to give it to Daichi. Daichi politely refused.

 

"I have less self-control than you, Suga. I mean, when it comes to food... We're going to end up buying a pile of food, aren't we?"

 

Suga glanced pointedly at Daichi, but shrugged and took the sample for himself.

 

Sugawara shot a small, worried glance at Daichi. "I think we're going to have to buy some..."

 

Daichi nodded. "Alright... But only one bar each."

 

"Shouldn't we get some for the rest of the team?" Suga asked. "I mean, we need to get them gifts, anyways."

 

"Giving Hinata-kun, Nishinoya-kun, or Ryū any sugar is a terrible idea." Daichi pointed out. He shrugged.

 

"Oh." He agreed, understanding the risks that came with distributing food.

 

Daichi pulled out his wallet. "Then again, keeping all this for ourselves is a terrible idea, too. Just think what would happen if Nishinoya found out we were hiding sugar from him."

 

"I agree," Suga nodded. "That would be a terrible idea."

 

They ended up purchasing a large block of fudge to share amongst the team, along with a separate bar for Suga so he would stop looking so desperate.

 

"What flavor did you get me?" He asked Daichi, who had returned and was currently attempting to hold a block of marbled fudge. It looked quite strange, Suga had to admit, but food was food.

 

Daichi glanced at the label. "Milk chocolate. I got the team caramel chocolate. Do you think they'll like it?"

 

"Well," Suga thought. "Sugar is sugar to them. Food is food, too." He took a bit of the soft candy, staring up at the bright lights above him. Snowflakes landed on his face. They tickled in a nice, cold way, blurring his vision beautifully. The lights of the market ran together into blobs of light and color.

 

Thoughts began to run through his head, as they often did when everything was like this. Quiet and solitary. Suga didn't bother to count the number of times he felt guilt over his relationship with Daichi. That number would be something too high to count, and he knew it.

 

"What's on your mind, Sugawara...?" Daichi murmured, shifting his gaze to the snowfall too.

 

Suga turned to Daichi, who still stared wistfully at the twinkling lights and powdery snow. His boots crunched the white snow as he turned to face Daichi.

 

"I think you know..." He said, a little guilty but secretly Daichi was the one to bring this up, not him.

 

Daichi nodded. It was like this sometimes. Nothing would need to be said between the two but there was a perfect understanding. A special bond and connection.

 

"I'll buy you hot chocolate," He offered. "And hold your hand."

 

Suga was too busy nodding to realize the second thing, but before he could object a cup of cocoa was in his hand and Daichi's hand was in his other. Daichi led him over to another booth, but Sugawara was lost in his mind. Fighting a battle with his own thoughts. He sipped the hot chocolate slowly, pondering the current situation. Strange inklings ran right through his mind, like those devil-angel things you saw in books and television all the time.

 

It was wrong, but it felt so... right, to be here with Daichi. He thought back to the summer, to that day outside the volleyball gym. It had been eventful. Too eventful for Sugawara's brain to process all at once.

_If only I could change the past... But I can't..._

 

Daichi tugged Sugawara away from the wood sculpture booth and over to the center square of the market, where there was an elaborately lit Christmas tree.

 

Tinsel and garland rested lazily on the tree’s boughs, baubles and ornaments hung off its branches, and soft snow iced the tree perfectly. The tree took Suga's thoughts away from the current situation for a while. A while, at least, until he sat down on a bench next to Daichi. He opened their bag and examined the gifts they bought for the team. The block of fudge was quite heavy, to be honest.

 

Sugawara shot a sidelong glance towards Daichi, who turned to him and smiled.

 

 _That's it,_ Suga thought _. I can't go on like this._

 

He placed the foods back down in the bag, and tugged Daichi over to the huge Christmas tree.

 

_Daichi's right. What's there to hide?_

 

They looked at each other inquisitively and for a second all the sudden confidence Sugawara had was gone. Time seemed to slow down but his heart continued to beat faster and faster.

 

"Daichi... I'm sorry..." He said. "I'm sorry for hiding, for covering it all up, for just... being afraid..."

 

Daichi blinked. "What?"

 

"I'm sorry!" He repeated.

 

"No, what are you sorry for?"

 

Suga shifted his weight from foot to foot, unsure of what to say.

 

 _Talking is hard,_ he thought to himself. _If I say everything I'm thinking, the world will probably explode._

"Um...," Sugawara began again. "I'm sorry for being afraid of... _us_... I shouldn't be like that. It's... stupid, and a terrible thing to be scared of. I don't know why I'm like this, Daichi."

 

Daichi's eyes widened; just now he knew what Sugawara was trying to tell him. Now, he too, was at a loss for words.

 

"I- Sugawara... I'm... that's great... He smiled. Suga smiled back, eyes bright.

 

"I promise," Suga whispered. "I promise I won't be guilty anymore."

 

"And I promise that I'll make you keep that promise." Daichi said playfully, pulling Suga just a little closer to him.

 

For once, Sugawara didn't protest. He was only filled with an immense feeling of happiness and satisfaction that this irrational fear, this stupid thing that had been bothering him for 6 months, was gone. He felt like a huge weight that he hadn't realized had been there was lifted off his shoulders. It was like when he had to serve at a match point as pinch server. But as soon as the serve got over and scored a point, the weight was off.

_I can't believe I lived six months like that. It seems impossible._

 

All at once, Sugawara saw everything around him in a new light. The people who were once perceived as judgmental were now just... people, enjoying their everyday lives. Bright lights that made him feel exposed became cheerful glows that added to the festive atmosphere.

 

Quiet moments like these together with Daichi were the most special to him. Moments where nothing needed to be said, but everything was said between them without a word. Silence was golden, after all.

 

He looked up at the majestic tree and caught sight of an oddly-colored bough in the branches. It was white and... kind of lumpy?

 

Then it hit him with a gentle slap in the face.

 

_Wait a minute... that's not a branch... that's..._

"Mistletoe." He murmured.

 

Daichi turned to him. "What now?"

 

"Mistletoe," Suga repeated. "Up there."

 

At that moment, the stars of the heavens seemed to align, and everything fell into place.

 

Suga took one step forward, and then another, and stared into Daichi's eyes. His heart was beating so fast now, heartbeats blurring together into one solid beat and he knew what he had to do.

 

Sugawara closed his eyes.

 

Looked up.

 

And he kissed him in front of everyone.

 

 

Daichi plopped the paper bags down on the kitchen counter.

  
“Now that was a long shopping trip!”  


“You can say that again,” Suga laughed, pulling off his snow boots. “We were there from dawn to dusk.”

 

Daichi grinned. “I’m pretty sure we were there for a lot longer.”

 

“True.” Sugawara wandered over to the couch and sat down, now just realizing how sore his feet were from walking for hours on end. “I woke you up earlier than the sunrise so we could go shopping. The things I do for you, Daichi!”

 

Daichi took a seat next to him, yawning. Christmas cards were strung in a line above the windowsill, displaying greetings in all shapes and sizes. Including Nishinoya’s giant cardboard cutout of a reindeer. That was a little extra. And the number of times Daichi had woken up in the morning, wandered into the kitchen, and had the living daylights scared out of him because of the hoofed menace! He didn’t even bother counting anymore. It led to headaches.

 

Suga bent over, reaching for his feet. He stretched, a much-needed exercise right now.

"Man, Daichi. I am so tired!"

 

Daichi raised an eyebrow. "You're the one who dragged me over to the holiday market to get gifts for everyone. And I didn't complain."

 

"Yeah, you did. In the morning." Suga retorted.

 

He sighed. "I did not!"

 

"Ugh, Suga-chan," Sugawara imitated Daichi. "It's too early for this. I don't want to get up... why do you do this to me!"

 

"Okay, okay, fine. I complained a little." Daichi admitted.

 

Suga laughed. "What do you define as 'little'?"

 

"No more than twenty times a day?" He answered.

 

Suga leaned his head on Daichi's shoulder. "Fair enough."

 

Daichi glanced at the huge pile of gifts on the counter. "Well, our shopping mission was fruitful, at least. But we need to get a Christmas tree or something."

 

"Oh, wait!" Suga jumped up. "I have one. In the closet."

 

"The closet is huge, Suga. You could hide a horse in there."

 

"Well maybe there is a horse." Suga shrugged, jumping up and running over to the closet, a pair of white doors on the far wall. "But there isn't," he reassured when Daichi looked suspicious.

 

He threw open the doors in a dramatic way and dragged out a fake tree just a bit taller than him. A few ornaments tumbled out with them. Fortunately, none were breakable.

 

Daichi hurried over to help Suga with the towering tree. They stumbled over to the corner of the room and set the tree down. Suga brushed off his hands.

 

"And that is a tree. There's a box of ornaments around here somewhere," He muttered.

 

Daichi reached down and picked up some ornaments already on the floor, left behind from the exodus of the tree.

 

"Here are a few," He handed them to Suga. "I'll go find the others. And I swear, Sugawara. If I find a horse..."

 

"You won't."

 

Daichi avoided the reindeer cutout and quickly located the big box of shiny tinsel and decorations in the closet. There was no horse, fortunately. He pulled out a long strand of garland and wound it around the tree while Suga grabbed a tube of glass baubles and hung them on the branches of the tree.

 

"Hey, Daichi, look at this one." Suga held up a glass volleyball ornament.

 

Daichi stared at it. "Where did we get that?"

 

"Yamaguchi gave it to us last Christmas." Suga answered, placing the decoration on the tree. He rummaged through the box.

 

"Do we have like, a star we can put at the top of the tree or anything?"

 

Daichi reached down into the box and pulled out a feathery model of a crow. He turned it over in his hands appreciatively.

 

"That is so extra," Suga muttered, plucking it out of Daichi's hands and placing it on the tree. "I like it."

 

"Is this box actually the decoration box? There's just a bunch of random stuff."

 

"I didn't say it was the Christmas decorations," Suga answered, shrugging. "It's just multipurpose."

 

Daichi pulled out a polymer-clay model of a sandwich. "Multipurpose, huh?"

 

"Hey, National Sandwich Day somewhere in the world is November 3rd."

 

"I'm sure Yamaguchi would be delighted to hear that his birthday is a week after Sandwich day." Daichi answered, placing it back in the box apprehensively. 

 

Suga reached behind the tree and plugged it into the wall outlet. The tree lit up with bright lights and gave the whole room a warm glow.

 

"Aha, there we go."

 

They stepped back to admire the tree.

 

"And now, no one will have the willpower to take it down until June or something." Daichi proclaimed.

 

Sugawara shrugged. "So be it. Christmas is the most wonderful time of the year, and what better to have Christmas in June?"

 

"Oh, whatever. No one would want it to snow in June..."

 

"In some parts of the world it snows in June." He pointed out.

 

Daichi opened the door to the bedroom. "It's late," He looked at the clock. "And we have to deal with Kuroo and Bokuto both at once tomorrow. We should get sleep."

 

Suga nodded in agreement. "Both at once, huh? Oh man, am I prepared to lose what remains of my sanity?"

 

He took a running start into the bedroom and launched himself onto the bed. Suga was buried in a mess of blankets and pillows.

 

Daichi climbed into bed much more carefully and slid under the covers. "It's cold."

 

Suga pulled the blankets right over his head. "No kidding, Daichi. I guess there's only one way to stay warm." His voice was muffled through the blanket.

 

"Which is...?" Daichi muttered, unsure of where this was even going.

 

Sugawara sat up suddenly. "More blankets!" He dragged some from the foot of the bed up to his chin and lay back down, sighing with bliss.

 

"Oi, Suga-chan, don't fall asleep just yet. Don't I get a good-night kiss?"

 

Suga sat back up, grinning. "You can have two."

 

"Three?"

 

"As many as you want, Daichi."

 

"Merry Christmas, Sugawara." Daichi murmured softly.

 

Suga sighed, turning the blankets over and flipping so he faced Daichi.

 

"I love you too, Daichi."


	5. Kageyama x Hinata - Baking Bad

 

"Hey, Hinata, pass me the recipe!" Kageyama waved his wooden spoon around angrily, trying to grab the paper from his boyfriend.

 

Hinata laughed, dancing away from Kageyama's angry grabbing. "I don't think you know what you're doing, Kageyama-kun!" He measured out a cup of flour and dumped it into the glass bowl on the counter below him.

 

They were supposed to be making cookies, but at this point, Kageyama and Hinata were bent on turning the kitchen into a nuclear disaster zone. Hinata grabbed a bag of chocolate chips.

 

"Hey, Kageyama, can we make chocolate chip cookies?" Hinata asked, checking the recipe which was written on lined paper, courtesy of Akaashi.

 

Kageyama shrugged. "We can make as many batches as we can. We have all day."

 

Hinata had wanted to wake up early in the morning to make cookies all day, and so far, they had only succeeded in waking up everyone in Hinata's house, making a huge mess, and ruining baking equipment. The kitchen was messier than it ever had been.

 

"Alright then. First batch, chocolate chip!"

 

Kageyama sighed. "Follow the recipe, idiot." He grabbed the paper from Hinata and propped it up on the bag of flour. It flopped over in a pathetic stoop.

 

"We've already done the first half. Now we need to add the wet ingredients," Hinata explained. He grabbed the jug of milk from the fridge and measured out one cup.

 

"It's two cups, Hinata," Kageyama warned.

 

Hinata sighed. " I know that. I can't fit two cups in one. Are you stupid?"

 

"I'm not stupid! I knew that... I was just... reminding you." Kageyama muttered bitterly, trying to distract himself with taping the recipe to the cupboard doors.

 

Hinata sighed and poured two cups of milk into the bowl, splashing it noisily on the sides of the bowl. Kageyama stabbed at it with his wooden spoon, frowning with concentration.

 

"Kageyama, that's not how you do it!" Hinata scolded.

 

"Well then," He retorted. "How do you do it?"

 

"Watch and learn, Kageyama-kun." Hinata grabbed Kageyama's arm and forced him to stop stabbing the mixture. He guided Kageyama's hand in a circle, mixing it properly.

 

Hinata frowned. "Stop being so stiff!" He shook Kageyama's arm, trying to lessen the resistance.

 

"I can't!" Kageyama protested. "This is just how I am!"

 

Hinata let go.

 

"Well at least be Kageyama-that-can-stir-cookie-dough-properly, not Stupid-Kageyama!"

 

"Fine." Kageyama glared at his boyfriend, determined to do it right this time. He attempted to be gentler with the dough this time. It worked... okay. The formerly uneven mix gained a doughier look, butter distributing itself evenly among the grainy sugar and sloshy milk.

 

Hinata scooped some chocolate chips out of the bag and sprinkled them into the dough, Kageyama continuing to blend and stir the dough. Hinata plucked a few chocolate chips from the counter and shoved them in his mouth.

 

"Hey, I saw that Hinata!" Kageyama yelled.

 

Hinata shrugged mouth full. "You can have some, too."

 

Kageyama reached into the bag and pulled out a huge handful of chocolate, cramming it into his mouth all at once.

 

"I said some..." Hinata sighed, taking the spoon from Kageyama and placing it in the sink. "Get a tray. We can put them in the oven."

 

Kageyama reached into the draw below Hinata and pulled out a large metal tray. "Is this good?"

 

Hinata tore a huge sheet of parchment paper off the roll and placed it on the tray. "Yup!" He grabbed a teaspoon and brought the bowl closer. He was ready to scoop the cookies onto the tray.

 

Kageyama took a spoon too and dug it into the dough, plopping a large lump of dough out onto the tray.

 

"Hey, try to portion it correctly!" Hinata reminded him, setting down his own unbaked cookie.

 

There was a furious race to get as many cookies down on the tray as possible.

 

"I did more than you, Kageyama-kun!" Hinata announced, triumphant.

 

Kageyama shook his head angrily. "No, you did 32, I did 35!"

 

"It's the other way around! Are you blind?!"

 

"Oh yeah? Well, at least mine had more chocolate chips!"

 

"So, you admit I had more than you!"

 

"There's still dough left!"

 

"There's not enough room on the tray!"

 

Hinata peeked into the glass bowl and saw a few spoonful's worth of dough clinging pathetically to the sides.

 

"Is it legal to eat cookie dough?" He asked.

 

"What do you mean?" Kageyama raised an eyebrow. "Legal? There's no law on cookie dough."

 

"Not that you know of." He scooped a big spoon of cookie dough and poised it ready to eat near his mouth. "What if I'm doing something illegal?"

 

"I'll lie to the police." Kageyama shrugged, not really caring. It probably wasn't illegal to eat raw cookie dough. Why would he even ask that?

 

Hinata gave the spoon a hesitant lick first. "Tastes fine. And what do you mean? Lie... to the police?"

 

"My boyfriend didn't eat cookie dough," Kageyama shrugged. "Something like that. In case it's actually illegal or something."

 

Hinata ate the rest of the raw dough with a little more confidence. "Oh, well, it tastes really good. Do we have oven mitts?"

 

"Oven... mitts?" Kageyama frowned.

 

"Yeah, you know," Hinata held up his hands and wiggled his fingers. "Gloves for your hands when you stick stuff in the oven?"

 

"I know that. It was just a little out of context." He clarified.

 

Hinata swung open the cupboard door above their heads. "Aha! Here are some. Akaashi knitted this placemat, by the way." He held up a charcoal grey cloth.

 

"Akaashi knits?" Kageyama asked, confused.

 

Hinata snickered. "Of course, he does. He's Akaashi. He also made me a hat." He pulled on the pair of brown gloves and grabbed the tray. "Open the door for me."

 

Kageyama reached down and swung open the oven door. He was hit with a hard wave of heat. "Oh man, that's hot."

 

"It's an oven, Kageyama. What did you expect? Ice?"

 

Kageyama ignored Hinata's comment and gestured for him to put the tray in the oven. Hinata slid the metal tray inside and jumped back like the oven was going to bit his arms off. Kageyama slammed the door shut with a bang and set the timer for twelve minutes.

 

"Okay, twelve minutes, right?" Kageyama asked.

 

Hinata glanced at the paper. "Yeah, twelve minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean."

 

"What? Toothpick?"

 

"You're so clueless," Hinata commented. "It means you stab a toothpick in the middle, and if there's no dough on it, it's cooked all the way."

 

Kageyama looked up from staring at the cookies intently. "Can I do the stabbing?"

 

"Why so violent, Kageyama-kun!?" Hinata cried, taking a seat in one of the chairs by the kitchen table.

 

Kageyama sat down next to him. "I'm just excited about cookies."

 

"Why?"

 

"Because cookies go with milk. And I love milk." He explained.

 

"Because Hinata goes with Kageyama. And I love Kageyama." Hinata grinned.

 

Kageyama blushed furiously. "Hinata... Hinata boke... You... idiot..."

 

"It's true!" Hinata proclaimed, innocent. "Stop being so flustered."

 

Kageyama stopped hunching over and tried to sit up straighter. "Okay. I want cookies."

 

Hinata launched himself off the chair. "We should make another batch!"

 

"Ugh, do we have to?" Kageyama groaned. "I think one batch is enough."

 

"The more you make, the more you eat." Hinata reminded Kageyama, waving his hands around enthusiastically.

 

"Okay. But it has to be shortbread. I like shortbread." Kageyama insisted.

 

"You like shortbread?" Hinata gasped.

 

Kageyama stopped. "What? Do you not like it?"

 

"No," He shook his head. "If you like shortbread, do you like short people?"

 

"I like you." Kageyama pointed out.

 

Hinata smiled. "I have a shortbread recipe somewhere." He slid out of his chair and bounded over to grab another sheet of paper with perfect printing on it.

 

Kageyama leaned over to glance at the paper. "Is this Yamaguchi's recipe?"

 

Hinata nodded. "Wow, this needs a lot of butter."

 

"Shortbread needs a lot of butter," Kageyama pointed out. "That's what makes it shortbread."

 

Hinata opened the door to the fridge and pulled out their block of butter. Kageyama gathered the rest of the ingredients and bent down to check on the cookies currently in the oven. It was starting to smell quite delicious, and he couldn't wait to eat them. Eating was the best part of baking.

 

"I can't wait to eat these cookies," Kageyama muttered. "Baking is hard work."

 

"It makes it taste better. Anything homemade tastes better than something you buy in a store." Hinata replied, dumping some more ingredients into a bowl and mixing them together with a whisk.

 

Kageyama glanced inside the bowl. "Why are you using a whisk?"

 

"We don't have anything else." He held up the whisk, which was clogged up with the thick dough.

 

Karasuno's setter stuck his hands right into the bowl. "Just use your hands!" He picked up the blob of shortbread dough and mushed it together into a more solid lump.

 

"Your hands aren't clean, Kageyama-kun!" Hinata cried in despair.

 

Kageyama frowned. "Yes, they are. I washed them." He put the dough back into the bowl where Hinata poked it cautiously.

 

"You made it all warm," Hinata protested bitterly. "That's disgusting."

 

"You're disgusting." Kageyama retorted, pulling another tray out of the drawer. "Here. Get the cookies ready."

 

Hinata grabbed the tray and slammed it down on the counter, taking with him a spoon and the bowl of dough.

 

"Alright, let's do this!" He moved at what was probably relative to the speed of light and before Kageyama could say anything, there were cookies evenly arranged on the tray. Hinata had also used a cookie cutter to make the cookies into star shapes.

 

"That was fast," Kageyama commented.

 

Hinata jumped up and down. "Yeah, of course, it was! Do you like the stars?"

 

Kageyama nodded. "They're nice. I can't wait to eat them."

 

"Why are you so focused on the eating part," Hinata whined. "Baking them is fun, too! Shut up or I'll make you put on an apron!"

 

"But-" Kageyama countered.

 

Hinata slipped a black apron over Kageyama's head. "You didn't shut up!"

 

Kageyama tugged on the apron's strings and tied them tight around his waist, ending with a messy bow. He didn't really mind having to wear an apron. Kageyama didn't want to get anything on his shirt, either. It was probably for the best, he reassured himself.

 

The oven beeped, signaling that the 12 minutes were up. It had seemed like forever. Hinata ran over, excited for the first batch to come out of the oven. He pulled on the oven mitts again and swung open the door. They were hit with a wave of heat and the smell of baking.

 

Kageyama sighed with bliss and relief over the fact that the house hadn't burnt down.

 

Hinata reached into the oven and pulled out the tray of cookies. He threw it onto the counter.

 

"Oh man, it's really hot!" He shook his hands out.

 

Kageyama sighed. "What were you expecting? Ice?"

 

"No," Hinata grabbed a cooling rack from the cupboard. "But I was wearing these!" He held up the gloves.

 

Kageyama picked up a spatula and helped Hinata transfer the cookies to the cooling rack. There were a lot of them. He slid the tray of shortbread into the oven and slammed it shut, resetting the timer.

 

"Look how big this one got, Kageyama." Hinata held up a huge cookie almost bigger than his face.

 

Kageyama took it from Hinata and placed it on the rack. "I call eating it first."

 

"No way! I found it!"

 

"But I called it first, you idiot!" He crossed his arms.

 

Hinata jumped up and down, impatient. "Can't we just split it?"

 

"I get the bigger half, though," Kageyama muttered.

 

"Fine," Hinata gave into Kageyama's argument. "I can live with that."

 

Kageyama snapped the cookie in half, making sure one side was significantly bigger than the other. He handed the much smaller half to Hinata, who frowned but didn't argue.

 

Kageyama opened the fridge and poured himself a huge glass of milk. He downed half of it in one sip and saved the other half to drown cookies in.

 

"You're insane, Kageyama-kun," Hinata commented, sliding the tray of shortbread into the oven.

 

Kageyama shrugged, wiping the milk off his face with the back of his hand. "Deal with it."

 

By now, the chocolate-chip cookies were not as hot anymore. Hinata scraped half onto a large plate and kept the rest for tomorrow, to share with the team at the Christmas party.

 

"What did you do that for?" Kageyama asked, dunking a cookie into his gigantic glass of milk.

 

Hinata picked up another cookie and stuffed it in his mouth. "We have to save some for the team tomorrow. It's the party," he explained around a mouthful of food. He dipped his cookie into some of Kageyama's milk.

 

"Hey! Get your own, idiot!" Kageyama wrapped his arm around the glass protectively, bringing it away from Hinata.

 

Hinata sighed and poured his own cup of milk. "There. Happy now?" he glared into Kageyama's dark eyes.

 

Kageyama shrugged. "Just don't steal my milk."

 

They both reached for more cookies at the same time.

 

"You know," Kageyama said, taking more cookies. "We're going to have to stop eating so many."

 

"I know," Hinata nodded and took another.

 

Kageyama sighed. He glanced out the window. Outside, the snow was falling at an alarmingly fast rate, covering the front yard in a soft white blanket. At least you could still see the mailbox, unlike last year.

 

"Alright, we actually have to stop eating now. There's still another batch." Kageyama reached for a cookie.

 

"We must stop eating!" Hinata yelled as he ate another.

 

"I've lost count of how many we've eaten," Kageyama said. He sat on his hands so he wouldn't eat anymore. The platter was almost empty. "How many do you think you've eaten?"

 

"More than you," Hinata announced smugly.

 

Kageyama frowned in disapproval. "Hey, don't turn this into a competition, you idiot!"

 

"But I ate more. I think I ate 32." Hinata counted off on his fingers, thinking.

 

"How are you not full?" Kageyama asked, taking a sip of his milk.

 

Hinata shrugged. "Like you said. There's still another batch. So, I'm pacing myself!"

 

"Eating thirty-two cookies is not pacing yourself." Kageyama declared firmly.

 

"It's not for you," He responded. "But it is for me."

 

The oven beeped again and Kageyama launched himself over to the oven door, slipping on the gloves before grabbing the tray.

 

"Oh, the cookies smell really good." He murmured, sliding the hot tray onto the counter. Hinata sprung over and inhaled deeply.

 

"They do..."

 

Kageyama slipped the cookies onto the cooling rack where they sat, waiting to be eaten. Hinata gazed at them, an eager and hungry look in his eyes.

 

_Why can't he look at me like that?_

 

Kageyama rested his head on top of Hinata's, something he knew his boyfriend either loved or loathed depending on his mood. Apparently, he loved it today.

 

Hinata reached up and grabbed Kageyama's hand, smiling softly. Kageyama turned his head upwards to whisper in his ear and Hinata waited so impatiently he thought he might implode and collapse on himself.

 

"It's these moments, Hinata, that reminds me..." Kageyama murmured into Hinata.

 

"That reminds me why I love you," Hinata finished.

 

Kageyama nodded slowly. "Yeah." They broke apart, grinning.

 

Hinata placed his hand on the cooling rack, testing if the cookies were the correct temperature to drown in milk and shove in his mouth. The rack was still warm, but not hot enough to burn. He handed a cookie to Kageyama, who took it not in his hands, but in his mouth.

 

"I'm not supposed to feed you, Kageyama-kun! Use your hands!"

 

Kageyama frowned and grabbed another cookie. He refilled his glass of milk and sat down again at the kitchen table. Hinata pushed the shortbread onto the platter along with the chocolate chips and brought it over to the couch by the television.

 

"We should watch a movie!" He announced, sitting down with the platter on his lap.

 

Kageyama picked up his glass of milk and sat down next to Hinata, placing it on the table in front of them. He turned the TV on.

 

"What should we watch?" He asked.

 

Hinata shrugged. "The Notebook." He muttered.

 

"You're kidding me, right?" Kageyama asked, secretly hoping he wasn't.

 

"Of course, I'm kidding!" Hinata shoved him playfully. "I was thinking of a horror movie."

 

"Nothing scares you anymore, does it?" He sighed.

 

"Well, after The Serving Incident, pretty much," Hinata confirmed. "That was terrifying."

 

"It was." Kageyama nodded, recalling the day Hinata had slammed a serve into the back of his head. He picked a random movie from the shelf.

 

"What about The Ring?" He asked, handing the case to Hinata.

 

Hinata flipped it over to the back and read the summary. "Ooo, this sounds good. We should watch it. It sounds mysterious."

 

"Are you going to get nightmares?" Kageyama muttered. "I don't want to be woken up by screaming."

 

Hinata shrugged. "It depends... I don't know how scary this movie will be."

 

"Let's find out." Kageyama flicked off the lights and turned on the TV, sliding the disc into the DVD player.

 

Hinata grabbed five cookies from the platter and clutched them nervously, perching on the edge of the couch.

 

"It hasn't even started yet, you idiot." Kageyama reminded, reclining lazily on the couch.

 

"I'm not scared!"

 

"Neither am I."

 

"You're going to get so scared, Kageyama-kun!" Hinata teased.

 

"I am not!" He growled.

 

"We'll see about that..."

 

A little more than 90 minutes later, Hinata was clinging to Kageyama, eyes wide as he watched the credits roll down the screen.

 

Kageyama had his eyes glued to the screen as well, the blue light casting an eerie glow on his face.  The cookies had been forgotten halfway through the movie and now lay on the platter, abandoned.

 

Kageyama shook Hinata off, and he reached for the remote, turning off the TV. They were left in darkness, listening to each other's breathing.

 

"Kageyama," Hinata whispered, making him jump. "I'm scared."

 

Kageyama turned around slowly. The only thing Hinata could see that frankly looked like anything part of Kageyama was his dark eyes. "I... I told you that you would get scared..."

 

"You're scared too, Kageyama!" Hinata pointed out, curling up on the couch in a tight ball.

 

"I'm... not... scared..." Kageyama retorted, very much so. "Okay, maybe I'm just a little scared."

 

Hinata twitched. "I need a hug."

 

A spoon fell off the counter in the kitchen and landed on the floor with a sharp clatter. Hinata screamed, and Kageyama screamed with him. The only difference was that Kageyama was screaming something much more mature than Hinata was currently shrieking.

 

Hinata clung to Kageyama again, still screeching. Kageyama stopped yelling profanities and just stared at Hinata, who was stuck to him. His fingers dug into Kageyama's arm, leaving red marks.

 

"Please tell me I'm not going to die..." Hinata muttered into Kageyama.

 

Kageyama shrugged, heart still pounding from the spoon's freefall. "No promises. But please, don't die."

 

Hinata untangled himself from Kageyama and bounded across the floor to turn on the lights. His eyes quickly adjusted and the once-terrifying atmosphere vanished, replaced with a feeling of relief and safety.

 

"The floor is lava," Kageyama muttered. They used to call that on each other all the time just to see how far Hinata could jump. Now, Hinata launched himself all the way over from across the room, landing on the couch with a thump. A pillow fell on top of his head.

 

Kageyama snickered. "That hasn't happened in a while."

 

"The couch is lava." Hinata hopped over to the table and sat on top of it, grinning.

 

Kageyama glared at him, joining Hinata on the table. "You can't do that!"

 

"Everything but the bedroom is lava!" Hinata shouted.

 

Kageyama groaned. "What are you suggesting?"

 

"That it's time for bed," He shrugged, running into their bedroom. "We need sleep. Lots of sleep. Because it's CHRISTMAS TOMORROW, KAGEYAMAAAAAAAA!"

 

There was a _fwump_ sound as Hinata landed on the bed.

 

"Hey, Kageyama-kun, if you don't wanna burn in lava, get over here!"

 

Kageyama sprinted into the bedroom to find Hinata already in bed, wearing Kageyama’s volleyball shirt.

 

"That's mine." He pointed out.

 

Hinata shrugged. "So?"

 

"I'm not saying it's a bad thing..." Kageyama tugged off his own shirt and slid into bed next to Hinata.

 

Hinata pulled the covers towards himself and all the way up to his chin.

 

"Oh, no, we are not having another fight over covers!" Kageyama yanked the sheets back towards him.

 

Hinata pulled them back over to himself and they tugged the covers back and forth until finally the sheets fell between them and they lay there in the dark, inches apart.

 

A rare moment of silence hung over them.

 

"Are you asleep, Kageyama-kun?"

 

Kageyama turned over. "No."

 

"Oh."

 

"How about now?" Hinata asked, five minutes later.

 

Kageyama groaned. "It's hard to fall asleep if you keep asking me."

 

"Oh, okay. Goodnight, Kageyama-kun."

 

"Goodnight, Hinata. Merry Christmas."

 

Hinata turned over onto his back and stared up at the ceiling.

 

"Merry Chri-" But he never finished his sentence, because Kageyama grabbed Hinata and hugged him, tight.

 

"Now I can fall asleep." He murmured, satisfied.

 

Hinata nodded. "So can I."

 


	6. Tsukki x Yamaguchi - Tsukki!!! on Ice

 

"You're telling me you've never been skating in your whole life?" Yamaguchi asked as he stepped off the bus with Tsukki.

 

Tsukki shook his head. "Never."

 

"But what about the school trips?" Yamaguchi asked. "Didn't you go on those?"

 

"Never signed up." He replied.

 

 Yamaguchi and Tsukki began walking down the street to their apartment. They had returned from last-minute shopping for Tsukki's brother. To both their surprise, it hadn't been a long trip. Tsukki had found what he was looking for and was satisfied that his brother would like it.

 

Tsukishima unlocked the door and Yamaguchi followed him inside. He tugged off his snow boots, trying not to get snow all over the room. It didn't work at all.

 

"Whoops. Sorry, Tsukki." Yamaguchi set his boots down by the door.

 

Tsukki shrugged and placed his shoes next to Yamaguchi's.

 

Yamaguchi ran off down the small hallway.

 

"Where are you going?" Tsukki asked.

 

There was no reply. Tsukki followed gingerly. He flicked on the lights to reveal Yamaguchi searching through the closet, boxes and books balanced haphazardly on top of each other.

 

"Aha! Here they are!" Yamaguchi held up a black bag.

 

"What's in there?" Tsukki took the bag from Yamaguchi.  It was quite heavy. "And why is it so heavy?"

 

Yamaguchi unzipped the bag to reveal a pair of white ice skates. "I was pretty sure my skates were here somewhere. I packed them when we moved, so they had to be in this closet." He picked up the skates, taking care not to destroy the other boxes. He pulled off the glittery blue skate guards on the blades.

 

"They're still sharp." He announced, sliding the guards back on.

 

Tsukki barely glanced at the skates, a little miffed by the fact that Yamaguchi could skate and he couldn't.

 

 _Whatever_ , he thought.

 

"I remember I used to skate when I was a kid..." Yamaguchi said quietly. "I went to the local ice rink every week after the hockey practices and skated for a few hours."

 

Tsukki wasn't too shocked to hear that Yamaguchi liked skating. It had always seemed like him to do such a sport, anyways.

 

"Isn't the local rink a few blocks away from here?" Tsukki asked.

 

Yamaguchi nodded. "It's by the café." He zipped the skate bag back up.

 

"Is skating hard?" Tsukki asked. He maybe perhaps just wanted to try, just to see if he could show Yamaguchi.

 

Yamaguchi tilted his hand back and forth. "Not really. I mean, just standing on ice, or just skating is easy, but figure skating... don't get me started on that."

 

"If you don't mind me asking..." Tsukki muttered.

 

"Well," Yamaguchi sighed. "I really wanted to be a figure skater when I was younger. Hence the reason I went to the rink every week. I watched the Olympics on television and always would be watching the figure skating parts. And then I kept falling. A lot. It hurt, so I gave up. But I can still skate fine, just not like quad Sals or anything like that."

 

"Quad Sals?"

 

Yamaguchi nodded. "Quadruple Salchow."

 

"What?" Tsukki, for once, was perplexed.

 

"It's a type of jump," He explained. "And it's really hard."

 

"Jumping four times doesn't seem very hard." Tsukki pointed out.

 

Yamaguchi laughed. "Tsukki, you don't jump four times. You jump up and spin four times. And there's a specific approach and exit for a Salchow. Footwork."

 

Tsukki had to admit that seemed pretty hard. Especially on ice.

 

"Ah, okay then."

 

Yamaguchi stood up suddenly, grabbing the skate bag. "Tsukki, we should go skating!"

 

"What? I don't know how to skate, remember?" Tsukki shook his head.

 

Yamaguchi laughed. "I know that. I'll teach you! It's not that hard."

 

Tsukki stood up and crossed his arms defensively. "I don't have skates."

 

"You can rent a pair." Yamaguchi pointed out.

 

Tsukki sighed. "Okay, fine, we can go skating."

 

"Yay!" Yamaguchi jumped up and down, excited. Very excited. He ran down the hallway. "Go get changed, Tsukki. You can't skate in jeans."

 

"And what you're wearing is fine?" Tsukki asked.

 

Yamaguchi nodded. "It is!"

 

Tsukki grumbled something under his breath and moved off to their room to get changed into something better to skate in.

 

Yamaguchi put on his boots again and pulled out his phone to check if the rink was actually open. It was, until seven in the evening. It was about 4:30 right now. He closed the schedule and opened up the photos on his phone. There were a lot of photos.

 

He found one of Hinata and Kageyama in the spring, sitting under a cherry blossom tree, one of Iwaizumi and Oikawa eating ramen. And one of Bokuto and Kuroo sword-fighting with broomsticks while Akaashi looked on with a face of disapproval. That one was a little out of context. What had even happened that day?

 

There are all sorts of photos in here, he thought. But I'm looking for one specific photo.

 

He scrolled upwards and found what he was looking for. A blurry photo of himself many years ago when he was 7, standing on the rink before his first competition in a royal blue costume and black skates.

 

Yamaguchi remembered that day as if it had happened yesterday. His father had taken that photo. It was his first and last competition. Not that he did poorly or anything like that. He placed second. But Yamaguchi soon decided the stress of competing was too much for him at such a young age. He had vowed to enter competitions when he was older and could probably deal with more stress, but that never happened. Instead he was swept up in a wave of homework, school, Tsukki, and volleyball.

 

 _I'm sorry, Yamaguchi,_ he thought to his past self. _I hope you wouldn't be disappointed in me right now. I play volleyball now! And I have a lot of friends. And I have Tsukki_ , he assured himself.

 

Yamaguchi set down his phone and slid it into his jacket pocket.

"Tsukki! Hurry up! The rink closes at 7!"

 

Tsukki ran into the room, glasses slightly askew. He pushed them back into place quickly. "Okay, fine, let's go skating."

 

Yamaguchi threw the door open and marched out, and Tsukki followed, but less energetically. Yamaguchi was getting pretty eager to step foot on the same rink he had skated on for half his life.

 

"Don't worry, it's not a very far walk," He assured Tsukki, who looked a bit reluctant to go skating.

 

Tsukki shook his head and trailed after Yamaguchi, who bounded happily down the sidewalks. Eventually he stopped jumping quite so high and slowed to a more normal walking speed. Tsukki caught up to him and grabbed his hand.

 

"Are you ready to go skating?" Yamaguchi looked over at Tsukki. "It's going to be really fun."

 

"I don't want other people to see me not know how to skate..." Tsukki muttered, embarrassed.

 

Yamaguchi shrugged. "There's not many people at the rink at this time. This is the time when I would go skating. Of course, I needed lots of room to slide around and fall."

 

Tsukki smirked. "Okay."

 

They reached the thick metal doors of the ice rink. The arena that held the rink wasn't big, but once you were inside, it looked massive. Yamaguchi pulled open one heavy door, recoiling at the cold metal. They stepped inside and were blasted with cold air and the smell of metal. It was a welcoming feeling for Yamaguchi, as if the rink was calling him.

 

_Welcome home._

 

He spread his arms wide and closed his eyes, trying to take back the feeling he felt years ago, the first time on ice. Tsukki laughed.

 

"What are you doing?"

 

Yamaguchi whipped around. "This is my first time at the rink in a long time. But it feels the same."

 

Tsukki nodded, then walked off to go rent a pair of skates. Yamaguchi plunked his bag down on the benches and opened the bag up. The rink was basically empty, save for the Zamboni smoothing out the ice. The roar of the huge machine was like a lullaby for Yamaguchi. He had listened to its song many times while he waited between breaks off the ice. The kids would pile by the doors, waiting to be let in after the ice was smooth and clear again.

 

He pulled out the skates, white and smooth leather brushing against his fingers. The laces weren't frayed at all, surprisingly. As a young child the smooth strings would often come undone and he would end up tripping and stumbling everywhere.

 

Yamaguchi slipped his right foot into one skate. To his relief, they fit. A little snug, but that was the way skates were supposed to fit. His hands remembered the pattern he always used to lace his skates.

 

Crossover three times, knot. Over, under, tie a bow.

 

It was a familiar exercise he could probably do with his eyes closed now.

 

A thud next to him made Yamaguchi look up from tying his skates on.

 

"I got a pair." It was Tsukki, clutching a pair of black skates.

 

Yamaguchi took the skates from Tsukki. "They're nice. And in good condition. Did you get them sharpened?"

 

Tsukki nodded.

 

Yamaguchi bent back down to put on his other skate. He was quite particular about both skates having the same tension around his ankles, which lead him to untie and have to retie them sometimes. But not today.

 

He stood up, just a little wobbly on the two blades. Everything about this felt so familiar. Yamaguchi turned to Tsukki, who was still sitting on the bench trying to figure out how skates worked.

 

"Tsukki, do you need help?" Yamaguchi asked, holding back a laugh.

 

Tsukki looked up, annoyed. "Um... yeah."

 

Yamaguchi strode over and picked up one skate. He tugged at the strings until they were loose enough to actually fit a foot inside.

 

"Try now," He said, picking up the other skate and doing the same to it. "Do they fit?"

 

Tsukki nodded slowly, sliding both skates on.

 

"Here, I can tie them for you. It's tricky at first." Yamaguchi bent down and grabbed the black strings. "Try not to kick me in the face."

 

He shuddered at the thought of a pointy toe pick burying itself in his face.

 

Yamaguchi pulled the laces tight and tied a neat bow. "Are these too tight?"

 

"No. Are you done yet?" Tsukki asked, looking out over the expanse of ice. The Zamboni was finished and was pulling back into its alcove.

 

He tied another knot on the other skate. "Alright, you are good to go. Try not to fall, okay?"

 

"That should be easy." Tsukki stood up, then grabbed Yamaguchi's shoulder suddenly for support.

 

Yamaguchi leaned to compensate for Tsukki. "Should be easy?"

 

"I can do it," He let go of Yamaguchi. "Let go of me."

 

Yamaguchi stepped back, unsure. Tsukki was now really tall with the added height of the metal blades.

 

"Now you're really tall..." Yamaguchi muttered. "Hinata would be in shock right now."

 

Tsukki took a few shakier steps towards the ice. Yamaguchi strode alongside him, confident in his walking skills. He slid the bolt from the rink's doors and opened one up. He pulled his skate guards off and tossed them towards the bag. Yamaguchi stepped onto the ice with one foot. And then another, until he was standing on the ice. It felt wonderful to finally be here.

 

"Stay here," He told Tsukki. "I'm just going to do a warm-up lap."

 

Yamaguchi pushed confidently off one foot, gliding forwards with surprising speed.

 

Wow, he thought. This ice is quite smooth.

 

Yamaguchi had grown accustomed to the rough and bumpy ice left behind by the aggressive hockey players. He pushed off the other foot, flowing effortlessly over the ice. Yamaguchi skated one full lap of the rink, heart pounding with exhilaration. The wind danced over his face, and he raised his arms up. Not for balance, but to pretend he was flying. Just like he used to do as a little kid.

 

He scraped to a smooth stop next to Tsukki, showering him with a flurry of ice and snow.

 

"How was that, Tsukki?" Yamaguchi asked, panting a little.

 

His boyfriend nodded in approval. "Can I try?"

 

"You better be careful," Yamaguchi warned. "It's a big change to be standing on ice for the first time."

 

Armed with this word of caution, Tsukki gripped the edge of the boards as he placed one bladed foot on the ice. And then the other. He still clung to the boards as he looked at Yamaguchi.

 

"Am I doing okay?" He asked, relived to not have fallen down in front of him.

 

Yamaguchi nodded. "Well, you're just standing there."

 

"I like standing here," Tsukki muttered. "It's safe."

 

Yamaguchi explained to Tsukki how to skate, and more importantly, how to stop.

 

"You have to make a heart with your feet." He instructed. "You bring your feet out, and then turn them in. Like this."

 

He skated forward, and then brought his feet in to a stop, blades scraping on the ice with a satisfying sound.

 

Tsukki slid one foot forward on the ice, and then slid his other foot forward, until he was right in front of Yamaguchi.

 

"I feel like I'm going to fall over all the time." Tsukki muttered.

 

Yamaguchi shrugged. "So do I. But you're not falling over."

 

"Fair enough," Tsukki smiled and pushed his glasses back into place.

 

"Here," Yamaguchi held out both his hands. "Practice skating forwards. I'll skate backwards."

 

Tsukki took Yamaguchi's hands tentatively, and Yamaguchi started skating backwards, feet making C-shaped curves on the ice.

 

"Tsukki, you have to skate too! I'm not just going to drag you around the ice..." Yamaguchi chided.

 

Tsukki slid a foot slowly forward again, afraid to take his feet off the ice.

 

Yamaguchi smiled. "You're doing fine so far. Don't worry." He skated a bit further back, tugging Tsukki forwards. He continued shuffling his feet along the ice, which bothered Yamaguchi a bit. He took a deep breath.

 

"You know, Tsukki," Yamaguchi pointed out. "You have to actually take your feet off the ice in order to skate properly."

 

"But I don't want to fall," Tsukki muttered, a little embarrassed.

 

Yamaguchi laughed. "You won't. I'm holding you up at this point."

 

Tsukki gingerly lifted one foot off the ice, and he glided forward. Yamaguchi quickly skated backwards to make up for the distance. They were approaching center ice, so Yamaguchi angled his foot backwards a bit and shifted the direction away from the wall.

 

He was glad the rink was empty. Yamaguchi's thoughts wandered as they glided over the ice, backwards and forwards.

 

"Are you getting the hang of it, Tsukki?" Yamaguchi asked after a while.

 

Tsukki's brow was furrowed in concentration. "I think so. You can let go."

 

Yamaguchi slipped his hands out from Tsukki's grasp and moved backwards to allow Tsukki to try skating by himself. Tsukki glided to the left and Yamaguchi followed, excited.

 

Tsukki stopped semi-gracefully and shot a furtive glance at Yamaguchi. "Did I do okay?"

 

"You did perfectly fine, Tsukishima." Yamaguchi nodded.

 

Tsukki tried skating forwards again, but the front of his blade caught on the ice and he pitched forward violently. In an instant, Yamaguchi was there to catch him. But he had underestimated how heavy Tsukishima would be and Yamaguchi fell backwards, Tsukki squishing him into the cold sheet of ice. It didn't really hurt, as he had expected a fall any time soon. And he fell a lot, so Yamaguchi was used to it. The thing he wasn't used to was Tsukki sitting on top of him while he lay sprawled on the ice.

 

Yamaguchi squirmed out from under Tsukki and stood up, brushing ice off his pants. Tsukki sat up, surprised at how fast Yamaguchi had recovered.

 

"I'm sorry! Are you okay, Tsukki?" Yamaguchi asked, skating back over to him.

 

Tsukki stood up slowly. "I'm fine..." He nodded.

 

Yamaguchi sighed with relief. "Do you need me to hold your hand again or can you do it yourself this time?"

 

"I can do it myself, Yamaguchi." Tsukki pushed off and glided around the far end of the rink. Yamaguchi decided Tsukki wasn't going to fall again, but just in case, he gave him a wide radius.

 

Yamaguchi skated in a straight line down the ice, practicing pivoting forwards and backwards. He also did a few spins. Not wanting to look like a show-off in front of Tsukki, he made sure he fell down a few times, too.

 

Eventually Tsukki stopped skating in circles and just stopped to watch Yamaguchi. At the moment, Yamaguchi was practicing sit spins, something he always had trouble with. He glided into his approach and bent down, slowly rotating into a proper sit spin.

 

He pulled out of the spin into just a regular spin until he came to a stop. He wasn't that dizzy, and this wasn't surprising.

 

When Yamaguchi was learning how to do spins, he was so scared of getting dizzy he went to the park and spun around for hours on the field to practice not getting dizzy. It wasn't the best way to train for something like that, but it worked. Aside from the fact he had barfed almost every time. However, Yamaguchi now had the inability to be dizzy.

 

He skated over to Tsukki, who nodded slowly.

 

"How do you jump like that?" He asked.

 

Yamaguchi launched himself off the ice and landed with a soft patter. "Like this?"

 

"Yeah." Tsukki bent his knees experimentally.

 

Yamaguchi thought. "It's all in the legs, I guess."

 

Tsukki bent his knees again and hopped, barely clearing an inch off the ice. He landed with a thud, but managed to stay balanced.

 

"I did it." He announced. Yamaguchi smiled, skating in a circle around Tsukki.

 

Tsukki pivoted around, trying to follow Yamaguchi's blazing speed. "Hey, Yamaguchi, how high can you jump?"

 

Yamaguchi stopped skating and skidded to a stop. "No idea. Let's find out."

 

He bent his knees, building up power. Yamaguchi flung his arms behind him and them brought them back up, propelling himself far from the ice. He seemed to hover at the peak of the jump, and then Yamaguchi found himself falling back down to the ice. He bent his knees, ready for the impact of landing.

 

_Please don't mess up your jump in front of Tsukki..._

 

He stuck the landing perfectly, arms flared out wide above him.

 

Tsukki looked slightly shaken.

 

"Wow. That's like, Hinata on ice."

 

Yamaguchi giggled. "But this is Tsukki on ice."

 

Tsukki groaned. "Yamaguchi on ice."

 

"Tsukki on ice sounds better." Yamaguchi shrugged and took off again, aiming for center ice.

 

Tsukki followed him. He was finding skating quite easy now.

 

Suddenly, Yamaguchi grabbed Tsukki's hands and spun him around in a circle.

 

"What are you doing?" Tsukki asked.

 

Yamaguchi shrugged. "Dancing?"

 

"On ice?"

 

"Yeah," Yamaguchi smiled, gazing up at the bright lights while they skated a lap around the rink. "Like ice dance. That's an event in the Olympics, you know."

 

He led Tsukki around the ice, only letting go a few times to spin playfully. Tsukki tried to keep up with Yamaguchi's exuberant pace, but couldn't match the graceful spins or leaps he executed.

 

"Yamaguchi... You never told me you were this good at figure skating!" Tsukki pointed out.

 

Yamaguchi scraped to a stop. "I'm not good at figure skating."

 

"Yes, you are." Tsukki argued, and he meant it.

 

"Compared to the other people that can skate," He shrugged. "I'm not very good."

 

"You're good at dancing on ice, though. Most people aren't stupid enough to try that."

 

"Sorry, Tsukki." Yamaguchi sighed, pushing off one foot and gliding around gracefully. "The thing is, in order to be good at ice dance, you need a partner. And that was never something I could do."

 

"I could, but I can't skate." Tsukki muttered.

 

Yamaguchi whipped around. "Really?" He grabbed Tsukki's hands again, recalling the routines and programs he had made up years ago.

 

"I was kidding-" He was cut off as Yamaguchi led him through a basic step sequence.

 

Yamaguchi kept his gaze close to the ice. "I'll just lead you through a basic routine so you can get used to ice dancing. It's different from figure skating." He bounded across the ice in another step sequence, Tsukki doing his best to follow.

 

They danced across the ice, clumsy at first, but eventually Tsukki learned Yamaguchi's routine and they looked less precarious.

 

Yamaguchi launched into a slow spiral and Tsukki somehow managed to stay upright, face to face with Yamaguchi, who pulled off a tricky double-crossover.

 

"Nice." Tsukki murmured.

 

Yamaguchi and Tsukishima glided around the rink, leaving intersecting lines and trails behind them. Yamaguchi skated effortlessly through spins and crossovers while Tsukki kept the balance and supported Yamaguchi through the spins and difficult turns.

 

Yamaguchi stared into Tsukki's golden-brown eyes as they danced across the ice.

 

"We should end this in some dramatic pose." Yamaguchi announced, going in for another spin.

 

Tsukki thought that idea was utterly stupid but would never say that straight to Yamaguchi's face. Especially when everything was going so well. They skated towards center ice, dancing on their blades.

 

"Three... two... one..." Yamaguchi whispered, then bent backwards into Tsukki's arms. Very dramatic.

 

"Catch me, Tsukki!"

 

Tsukki quickly reached out and Yamaguchi fell into his arms with a soft thump. Tsukki's heart did a soft thump, too.

 

Yamaguchi looked up from his dramatic pose. "Nice, Tsukki!" He grinned.

 

Tsukki smiled and hoisted Yamaguchi back up to a standing position.

"The rink is going to close soon," He muttered. "We should go."

 

"One more lap. Together, this time." Yamaguchi grabbed hold of Tsukishima's hand. They glided around the rink together in silence, enjoying each other's presence with each stroke of the blades.

 

The one time around the ice passed all too quick, and before Yamaguchi knew it, Tsukki was helping him climb off the ice and onto the solid-feeling floor.

 

He felt really disappointed when his skates touched down on the rubbery floor, but looking up at Tsukki he was filled with a feeling of pride. Yamaguchi leaned into Tsukki's chest.

 

"You learned to skate today, Tsukki." He whispered. "Good job."

 

Tsukki smiled at Yamaguchi's gentle praise and placed a soft kiss on his forehead.

 

They tugged off their skates, Yamaguchi taking care to wipe the blades down carefully to prevent rust. He also helped Tsukki put away the skates properly.

 

"You're really good at figure skating," Tsukki commented as they were putting away his rental skates.

 

Yamaguchi shook his head. "Okay, fine. But to be honest, I didn't show you much of what I can do on ice."

 

"Really?" Tsukki raised an eyebrow, walking out of the ice rink. Yamaguchi followed along, grabbing Tsukki's hand on the way out. He nodded.

 

"Yeah."

 

"I guess we're going to have to have another Yamaguchi on Ice show."

 

"Tsukki on Ice." Yamaguchi countered, smiling.

 

"Yamaguchi on Ice."

 

"Tsukki on Ice!" Yamaguchi hugged Tsukki in the spur of the moment.

 

Tsukishima sighed. "If you're going to hug me like that, I guess it's going to have to be Tsukki on Ice."

 

"Alright, Tsukki."


	7. Iwaizumi x Oikawa - He'll Be Coming Down the Mountain

"Oikawa, you better not get the chairlift stuck this time." Iwaizumi warned his boyfriend as they shuffled forward to load the chairlift.

 

Oikawa laughed. "I won't. Don't worry!"

 

"I'm trusting you," Iwaizumi shrugged. "But let me say 'I told you so' if we get stuck up there for an hour again."

 

It was a beautiful day to go skiing. What some called Bluebird days. There had been a huge snowfall last night, leading to a surplus of powder. And there wasn't a cloud in the sky, save for a few white streaks here and there. Perfect conditions for Oikawa and Iwaizumi.

 

Oikawa watched the suspended chair come towards them and at the exact right moment, he sat down on the ice-covered chair next to Iwa-chan.

 

"See, Iwa-chan. I told you I could do it." He smacked his skis together, raining powder down on the skiers below.

 

All he got in response was a grunt from Iwaizumi.

 

The chairlift carried them high above the snow below, and Oikawa watched the skiers below intently.

 

"Which run should we go down next, Iwa-chan?"

 

"I don't know," Iwa-chan turned to Oikawa. "Something difficult."

 

Oikawa glanced down at the map of the mountain that was adhered to the chairlift bar. "Hmm... like a black? Or a double-black?"

 

"Whatever you think is best. I couldn't really care less at this point." Iwaizumi pulled his gloves a little tighter onto his hands, leaning over to look at the map, too.

 

"What run is that?" He pointed to a black run that snaked right down the side of the mountain and merged into a blue run on the way down the mountain. "Mystic Vale?"

 

"Aw man, why do they have to give such strange names to all these ski runs?" Oikawa whined. "I would name them cool things like, Cliff-diver, or No Chance!"

 

"You're making it sound like a death run, if you name it No Chance." Iwa-chan pointed out, frowning.

 

"Alright, Mystic Vale actually does sound okay. Sounds easy."

 

"Don't judge a run by its name." He warned. "Remember last year? You wanted to go down Apple Cider, and ended up almost falling off the mountain, barely missed triggering an avalanche, and then you got stuck because you were too scared to hit the drop."

 

Oikawa blushed, recalling last year. "Okay, fine, Iwa-chan."

 

The chairlift slowed, indicating they were at the end of the line. Oikawa checked the map one last time before the lift deposited them at the top of a wide, gladed run named Enchanted Forest.

 

"Do we have to take this one down to Mystic Vale?" Iwa-chan asked, glancing at the big sign nearby.

 

Oikawa glided forward on his turquoise skis, surveying the terrain. A tuft of brown hair had found its way out of Oikawa's helmet and rested on his face. He blew it out of his face, but it fell back onto the bridge of his nose.

 

"Okay, so I think this run splits off into three other ones, the Vale included. We have to take the left turnoff up ahead." Oikawa explained.

 

Iwa-chan gripped his ski poles and pushed himself forwards, carving a wide turn down the run. Oikawa followed, just as fast.

 

Iwaizumi and Oikawa both had a shared love for skiing. They had gone on a school skiing trip in their first year at Seijoh, and really loved it. Each year after that, they made sure they were the first ones to sign up for the next trip, and whenever ski season hit, they were one of the first on the hills.

 

Pulling off a switch turn, Oikawa sped down the mountain, following Iwa-chan, who carved out big torrents of powder with each turn he executed.

 

"Have you been practicing, Iwa-chan?" Oikawa asked. "You've gotten better!"

 

Iwaizumi turned around so he was skiing backwards, looking behind him every so often. "I don't know. I think it's the powder." He pivoted forwards again.

 

They reached a flat surface right before a big hill, and Iwa-chan came to a smooth stop. Oikawa turned sideways, lifted one leg, and stopped, showering Iwaizumi with a huge spray of snow and powder.

 

"What was that for, Oikawa?"

 

Oikawa shrugged, ski poles dangling off his wrists. "I wanted to see how big of a splash I could make."

 

"Enough to get snow down my jacket," Iwa-chan grumbled. "I think the whole mountain is in there." He shook out his arms and a few clumps of snow fell out.

 

"That's not the whole mountain, Iwa-chan." Oikawa laughed.

 

Iwaizumi sighed. "Are you ready to hit this hill?"

 

"Yeah. Are you going to go straight down?" He stabbed his hand downward like it was zooming down the snowy hill.

 

Iwa-chan peered down the steep slope. "The turnoff is right at the bottom. If you go straight down, you're going to have to turn quickly."

 

"I'll do it." Oikawa nodded, grasping his ski poles. He pushed off, speeding down the ridge at an alarming pace.

 

 _Good lord,_ Iwaizumi thought. _I hope I won't have to lie to the police about anything._

 

"Oikawa, slow down-" Iwa-chan warned. But it was too late.

 

Oikawa reached the bottom of the hill and turned sharply, once again sending up a huge shower of snow. He slowed on his turn, and then rocketed off down Mystic Vale.

 

Iwa-chan shot down the hill after his runaway boyfriend, muttering something along the lines of,

 

_What did I tell you, Oikawa? Be careful!_

 

He made sure to turn carefully, gliding gently into Mystic Vale.

 

"Oikawa-san, where the hell are you?"

 

_Did he already make it down the whole run?_

 

Iwaizumi desperately tried to remember which run Mystic Vale merged into, but that thought failed to come to him.

 

_Oh god. Where the hell is Oikawa?_

 

Suddenly, a flash of turquoise caught his vision to the left. He whirled around to find Oikawa sitting down at the side of the run, waiting.

 

"Oikawa, you idiot!" Iwa-chan rushed over.

 

Oikawa looked up at Iwaizumi with an innocent look. "Sorry, Iwa-chan. You were too slow. I guess I really am faster than you!" He stood up, brushing snow off his pants.

 

Iwa-chan clenched his gloved fists. "Don't you ever do that again! You could have died!"

 

"I think that's a little bit of an exaggeration." Oikawa waved his hand dismissively, getting ready to shoot down Mystic Vale.

 

Iwa-chan stepped in front of him, skis pushing out against the powder so he wouldn't slide backwards down the run.

 

"Promise me you'll be careful this time, Oikawa." Iwaizumi frowned at him.

 

Oikawa shrugged. "All my best to you, Iwa-chan." He took off down the run, faster than before, skimming over moguls and snowbanks.

 

Iwaizumi sighed and skied down the slope after Oikawa. He bent his knees, preparing for the first terrain challenge. Moguls. Shifting his feet left and right, he glided through the first round smoothly. But the second round was ungroomed and all cut up from Oikawa's rampage through the snow.

 

_Seriously?_

 

He cut down on the speed and bumped over the rough terrain carefully, making it through without wiping out.

 

Through the first part of the tough terrain, Iwa-chan sped up again, keeping a close eye on Oikawa, who hit a ramp and pulled off a flashy jump.

 

Iwaizumi carved around a few rocks in the terrain, reaching the ramp with the correct speed to also execute a smooth jump that wasn't as flashy. He hit the snow with his skis parallel, sticking the landing perfectly. The snow below him made a satisfying sound.

 

Oikawa's shriek of delight up ahead alerted Iwa-chan he was in for a surprise.

 

"POWDER STASH!" Oikawa announced. He twisted his skis so a huge curtain of snow separated him from Seijoh's ace.

 

Iwa-chan blasted through the flurry of snow to find Oikawa cutting back and forth through the accumulation of powder. Iwa-chan shredded through all of it, carving a huge swath through the snow. Oikawa stuck his tongue out at Iwaizumi.

 

"You ruined my powder, Iwa-chan!" Oikawa pouted.

 

Iwaizumi chuckled. "It's not your powder."

 

"But I found it first, Iwa-chan!" He smiled, sending up another spray of powder. All over Iwaizumi.

 

He shook off the snow. "Remind me why I love you again?"

 

"Because," Oikawa placed a solid pole plant and pushed off in the other direction. "I'm the only one who'll come all the way up the mountain and back down with you."

 

"Eh." Iwa-chan shrugged, turning after his boyfriend and heading down Mystic Vale.

 

They skied the rest of the way down the run in silence, accented only by the occasional cry of delight from Oikawa when he found some more powder or a jump.

 

Iwa-chan smiled. As Kunimi would often point out, when Oikawa was happy, Iwaizumi was happy.

 

Oikawa reached the merging point for both runs. Since it was the end of the day, all the skiers were heading down the mountain. But they always like to take the last lift of the day up, then find their way down in the longest way possible.

 

Mystic Vale cut across the mountain, not down it, on a special ledge that was still really steep. If you looked over the left side of the run, all that there was between you and a giant cliff was a few trees.

 

They merged into the blue run, which, proclaimed by a huge sign, was named Northern Lights. It was one of the main ways down the mountain.

 

Iwaizumi followed quickly after Oikawa, who seemed to enjoy shredding through sharp turns. His skis made sharp shapes in the powder beneath him. Iwa-chan wove around a risky tree well and shot full speed ahead to pass Oikawa on his left.

 

"Are we racing now, Iwa-chan?" Oikawa asked, catching up quite quickly.

 

Iwaizumi carved in front of Oikawa, showering him with powder. "I mean, if you want to." He leaned forwards into a streamlined crouch and flew forward with surprising speed.

 

"Oh, it's on, Iwa-chan," Oikawa giggled. "Prepare to be destroyed."

 

"Loser buys hot chocolate for winner." Iwa-chan shouted, pulling even further ahead.

 

"So be it, Iwa-chan!" Oikawa shifted to a steeper part of the run, dipping down a fast hill and managed to gain the lead, just by a bit.

 

"How about we turn off down this black run!" Iwa-chan announced. "That ought to change things up a bit!" He pulled off a switch turn and shot down Ice Castle.

 

Oikawa chuckled to himself. "Of course, it'll change things up. This run is icy. I'm coming for you, Iwa-chan!" He turned off down Ice Castle, hitting the first terrain challenge with stride. Oikawa easily navigated the uneven ground, bending his knees.

 

"Is this a technical black, Iwa-chan?" He called out as he pulled up beside him.

 

"Yeah."

Iwa-chan placed a timely pole plant and decided to take the side loop, an offshoot of the main run. He sped down it and popped back up quite far ahead of Oikawa.

 

"Well, if you're going to be like that, Iwa-chan!" Oikawa muttered.

 

He took the same path as Iwa-chan, swerving around a gnarly tree root and taking the first jump he saw. His turquoise skis flashed through the air as he banked up on the side of the run. Oikawa shot out of the offshoot like a lightning bolt and kept his eyes on Iwa-chan's black ski jacket.

 

_I'm coming for you, Iwa-chan!_

 

Iwa-chan glanced behind them and for a second his dark eyes flashed with surprise. But it was quickly covered up with a smile.

 

"I knew you would do that, Oikawa."

 

Oikawa used his onyx ski poles to push himself forwards at a fast pace, pushing ahead even when his arms started to burn a bit.

 

The rest of the way down the run was close, each surging forwards bit by bit. Oikawa and Iwaizumi were neck to neck. They rose over the crest of a hill and shot down the final slope. They could see the village below.

 

Oikawa spotted a patch of groomed terrain, where movement would be faster, and he sped down it quickly. Iwa-chan followed him towards the smoother ground but was still behind him. Oikawa crouched low and tucked his poles in behind him, trying to be as streamlined as possible.

 

The wind tore at his hair and face, ruffling the brown locks into his eyes even though they were protected by ski goggles. Oikawa sensed Iwa-chan approaching fast behind him and urged himself to go faster. He forgot about the huge lump in the ground in front of him, and he hit the jump hard, flying forward and so high he could see Iwaizumi behind him.

 

Oikawa fought the urge to scream and tried to focus on landing properly.

 

_Oh, please don't let me lose. I don't want to buy Iwa-chan hot chocolate._

 

The ground came towards him at an alarming rate and he bent his knees, preparing for contact. Iwaizumi was still behind him, trying desperately to catch up.

 

He thudded onto the snow hard. Not a perfect landing, but he managed to keep his balance.

 

"Take that, Iwa-chan!"

 

The base of the mountain was fast approaching.

 

 _Alright. I just have to hold out until here_ , Oikawa thought. _Then I get hot chocolate_.

 

Luckily enough for Oikawa, with the extra boost from the risky jump, he won. By a few inches, but he still won.

 

"Iwa-chan, I won!" He stabbed his ski poles into the ground triumphantly.

 

Iwaizumi punched him in the shoulder. "What was with that jump, though!? You could've died!"

 

"But I didn't," Oikawa shrugged, pulling off his ski goggles. "And that's good, right?"

 

Iwa-chan nodded slowly, pulling off his helmet. His usually spiky black hair had been flattened.

 

Oikawa took off his helmet too, taking a moment to admire all the stickers he had stuck on it. He shook his head, trying to fluff up his soft brown hair.

 

"That was a good run," He threw his head back and sighed dramatically. "Right?"

 

"Yeah." Iwaizumi nodded, agreeing.

 

"And now," Oikawa continued. "I get hot chocolate!"

 

Iwa-chan sighed. "Fine. We can go to the place near the ski lodge." He clicked off his skis, slid them together, and carried them on his shoulder, ready to go buy his boyfriend a cup of hot chocolate.

 

Oikawa removed his skis and shoved them together too. "Iwa-chan, can you carry mine?"

 

"I'm already buying you hot chocolate," He sighed. "But fine. Only this time, okay?"

 

"Whatever you say, Iwa-chan. I trust you." He handed Iwaizumi the pair of blue skis and marched off, doing a strange walk in his purple ski boots. But everyone walked like that when you had stiff, plastic boots on your feet.

 

Iwa-chan staggered under the weight of four skis, but managed to hold it together. "Alright. Hurry up if you want your hot chocolate. Because I'm not going to make it at this pace."

 

Oikawa bounded ahead. "You're the slow one right now!" He laughed.

 

Iwa-chan jogged to keep up with him, feet feeling small now that there were no skis attached to them. They walked the rest of the way to the cozy café silently, observing the other skiers around them. To be honest, it was probably better that Iwa-chan was holding the skis. Oikawa almost beheaded a group of small children last year.

 

Iwa-chan stared up at the bright blue sky, which was now tinted with hints of purple and orange as the sun was beginning to sink beneath the horizon of the mountain. A spectacular alpenglow, when the sun set behind the mountains and created an amazing glow, cast a warm light over the couple.

 

Oikawa turned and pulled out his phone.

 

"I have to get another picture of this. It happens every year, but this time it looks really good." He snapped a picture.

 

Iwa-chan rolled his eyes. "You're obsessed with taking pictures of scenery."

 

"It's for aesthetic purposes." Oikawa clarified, nodding and putting his phone back into the pocket of his ski jacket. He tugged on the handle of the café door, and a welcome blast of heat hit them.

 

"Oh, that feels nice."

 

They left their skis outside on the ski rack and headed inside. Oikawa grabbed a seat in a secluded booth and Iwa-chan went up to the front to order their drinks.

 

Oikawa undid the bindings on his ski boots, sighing with relief that his feet were finally released from the tension of boots and bindings. A few clumps of snow fell out onto the floor, but that was normal for most shops around the village. Almost expected, even.

 

Iwa-chan returned to the table holding a mug of steaming hot chocolate and a plate with two cinnamon buns.

 

"What are the buns for?" Oikawa asked. "For me?"

 

"For both of us. I'm hungry." Iwaizumi confirmed.

 

Oikawa pulled his gloves off and reached for the mug of cocoa, wrapping his hands around the warm cup. "Thank you, Iwa-chan!"

 

Iwaizumi grabbed a gooey cinnamon bun off the plate and bit into it angrily.

 

"Why so angsty?" Oikawa asked, taking a sip of the cocoa. It came with marshmallows.

 

Iwa-chan sighed. "I lost the last race of the year against you."

 

"Eh," Oikawa shrugged. "There's always next year. And anyways, it'll be fun to come home and host the Christmas morning party." He reached across the table and grabbed Iwa-chan's hand. It was warm.

 

"And anyways, I'm here. What's better than that?"

 

"Nothing much," Iwaizumi murmured, staring into Oikawa's mesmerizing eyes. Which still kind-of-maybe had imprints from his ski goggles around them. It looked kind-of-maybe cute.

 

Oikawa grinned. "See?" He reached across the table with his other hand for a cinnamon bun, dripping with icing.

 

"Oh, these are good." Oikawa announced, mouth full.

 

Iwaizumi smiled. When Oikawa was happy, he was happy.

 

They consumed the rest of the food quite quickly, Oikawa draining the hot chocolate surprisingly fast. He slammed the mug down on the table like it was some challenge.

 

"Next time I'll try to chug the whole thing." He promised.

 

Iwa-chan shook his head. "You'll choke and I would have to resuscitate you."

 

"I wouldn't mind you saving my life like that."

 

"I know that."

 

Iwaizumi pushed the door open, wincing at the cold again. He grabbed his pair of indigo skis.

 

"This time, you're carrying your skis."

 

"What if I behead someone?" Oikawa asked playfully.

 

Iwa-chan shrugged. "So be it."

 

They walked back to the lodge without anyone losing body parts, thankfully.

 

Oikawa threw open the door to their room and dumped his skis in the closet, along with his other equipment. He peeled off his jacket, ski pants and sweater, in awe of how light his base layer of clothing was.

 

"The power of merino wool!" He launched himself onto the bed, landing face down in the pillows.

 

Iwa-chan followed suit less energetically and hung his gloves by the gas fireplace to dry and then climbed onto the bed and lay down next to Oikawa. Oikawa was still buried in the duvet.

 

"Can we order takeout for dinner?" He asked, voice muffled.

 

"We can order whatever you want," Iwa-chan replied.

 

Oikawa sat up, hair messy in an adorable way. "Anything I want?"

 

"Yeah..."

 

"Can I order a gorgeous boyfriend?" Oikawa asked.

 

Iwa-chan grinned. "There's one right in front of you, idiot." he leaned down and kissed Oikawa passionately.

 

"I know that. And you're not takeout, Iwa-chan," Oikawa pointed out, pulling Iwaizumi closer to him.

 

Iwa-chan smiled. "I can be whatever you want me to be."

 

"Be mine forever, then." Oikawa murmured.

 

"Sure."

 


	8. Kuroo x Kenma - Let it Snow

 “Isn’t that dangerous?” Kenma murmured to Kuroo.

 

Kuroo shoved another log into the fireplace, trying to arrange a nice stack of wood. “Probably. Hey, come over and help. It’s fun.”

 

Kenma was wrapped up in a pile of wooly blankets sitting on the couch. It was comfortable, and he didn’t want to move. He barely glanced up from his phone. “You can do it yourself, Kuroo.”

 

“If you say so,” He stood up, brushing his hands off. “How does this look?”

 

The logs were stacked haphazardly on top of each other in what Kenma thought looked like a demented whale. “Try again.”

 

“It looks fine to me!” Kuroo frowned but rearranged the wood into a neater stack of logs.

 

Kenma actually put down his phone for a second to peer at Kuroo’s creation. “Go light it,” He muttered, turning back to his game. “Don’t burn the apartment down.”

 

“Where are the matches?” Kuroo asked with a dangerous smile on his face.

 

Kenma sighed. “Is it safe to tell you?”

 

“No.” He grinned. “But tell me anyway.”

 

“They’re by the kitchen window. The red box.” Kenma said.

 

Kuroo went to search in the kitchen, and Kenma returned to his games. But not before glancing out the window.

 

“Hey, Kuroo, it’s snowing…”

 

Kuroo slid back into the room, pushed Kenma aside, and peered out the window. A blurry haze of white covered most of his vision, and the snow had already piled up against the walls of the building. There were no footprints in the snow, indicating the powdery snowfall was fresh. “You’re right. All the better to make a nice, warm fire.”

 

“Or a pile of ashes that was once our apartment.” Kenma frowned. “Did you find the matches?”

 

He shrugged. “Not really. But I found some ingredients.”

 

“Ingredients?” Kenma pulled the warm blankets closer around him. “What are you doing? Making matches?”

 

“No! I found ingredients for s’mores! We could make them with the fire.” Kuroo produced a bag of marshmallows and graham crackers from the kitchen cupboards.

 

Kenma groaned. “We don’t… have a fire.”

 

“Right.” Kuroo smacked his forehead. “I totally forgot about that.” He poked the mass of blankets that appeared to be slowly consuming Nekoma’s setter.

 

Kenma glared at him before turning around.

 

“Help me find the matches, Kenma,” Kuroo asked.

 

Kenma shrugged. “I don’t want to move.”

 

“I’ll carry you into the kitchen,” He offered. “And then you can find them.”

 

“That’s stupid.” Kenma retorted.

 

Kuroo planted his hands on his hips. “Desperate times call for desperate measures.” He picked Kenma and all the blankets up. It wasn’t that heavy. He carried him across the room to the kitchen, Kenma glaring at him the whole way.

 

“Alright. Where are these matches?” Kuroo looked around the kitchen again.

 

“Kuroo,” He pointed to a red box sitting in plain sight. “They’re right there.”

 

Kuroo set Kenma down on the ground and grabbed the small cardboard box off the stove. He slid the lid off, revealing a lot of red-tipped sticks. Kenma squirmed his way out of the blankets and wandered off back to the couch, dragging them behind him.

 

“Hey! Kenma! Why are you wearing my Nekoma sweatshirt?” Kuroo called after him.

 

Kenma turned around. “It was the only thing I had. And, it’s comfortable. Just a little big.” He pulled the sleeves way down past his hands to demonstrate.

 

Kuroo shrugged and pulled one match out of the box. He held it in his palm delicately. Kuroo had never really used a match before. But he wouldn't tell Kenma that. That would just never let Kuroo use the fireplace, let alone any technology in the apartment. And he really wanted s'mores. He brought the red box back into the room, and set it down near the fireplace. Kenma watched with a mixed look of curiosity and concern.

 

"Hey Kenma? Is this how you light a match?" He struck the red tip along the rough edge of the matchbox. The match burst into flames. "OH! It is! Okay!" Kenma sighed.

 

Kuroo stuck the burning stick into the logs, but none caught fire. The match sputtered out along with Kuroo's disappointed sigh. He struck match after match, but none set the logs aflame.

 

"Kindling," Kenma frowned.

 

Kuroo sat up. "What?"

 

"You need kindling. Something like paper to make starting a fire easier." He explained.

 

Kuroo grabbed his math notes out of the wastebasket. "Can I burn my math?"

 

Kenma shrugged and continued to play on his phone. Kuroo ripped the paper into small shreds and laid them out at the cold stone of the fireplace. He then arranged the kindling in a messy pile; math equations peeking out at him.

 

"I hope this works, Kenma," Kuroo muttered. "Kenma?"

 

Kenma was gazing out the window at the steady snowfall. "It's really snowing, Kuroo."

 

"Let it snow. I wanna start a fire, anyways." He declared, striking another match with a sizzle.

 

Kuroo lowered the flickering flame to the papers. They caught fire instantly. "Die, math notes!" He grinned.

 

"You're insane." Kenma murmured, back to gaming.

 

Kuroo's math notes were now reduced to a pile of ashes, but the other logs hadn't caught fire before the flame had gone out. "Darn it."

 

Kenma scooted off the couch, sitting beside Kuroo. "Let me try." He grabbed some more paper out of the garbage and tore it up slowly. Then he created a tiny nest out of the shreds and sat back. Kenma grasped a match, rolled up his sleeves, and struck a flame.

 

Kuroo watched the second-year move the match down to the paper nest. Kenma gazed at the flames intently. Once the paper caught, he shook out the match and tore up some more paper, gradually adding it to the flame. The fire grew from an ember to a small blaze, and Kuroo let out a breath he hadn't realized he had been holding.

 

Kenma tossed the rest of the paper onto the fire, and slowly but surely, the flames licked at the logs above. Kuroo wrapped one arm around Kenma.

"And that, folks, is how you start a fire," Kuroo announced.

 

Kenma cringed. "Don't try this at home, kids."

 

"That's my line!" He protested. "But look what you've done. Now we're going to have to be all warm, toasty, and cuddly!"

 

Kenma leaned back, into Kuroo. "Alright, if you say so. It's Christmas eve."

 

"Right!" Kuroo nodded. "I have a gift for you. I'll give it to you later. Right now, it's s'more time."

 

He reached over and grabbed the bag of marshmallows, staring at the dancing flames. The fire was now fully lit, and it cast a warm glow on Kenma's face. It was a big difference between the pale blue light that usually emitted from Kenma's phone.

 

Kuroo grabbed the two metal sticks he had been saving for this occasion and twirled them around dangerously. Kenma opened the bag carefully and pulled out two marshmallows. One, he placed in his mouth, the other, he kept in his hand while Kuroo passed him the stick.

 

Kenma speared his marshmallow carefully and held it over the fire. Kuroo decided to stab his marshmallow violently for fun and then stuck it right into the flames.

 

"It's going to burn if you do that..." Kenma warned.

 

Kuroo shrugged. "What do you mean? It'll be fine."

 

Right on cue, the marshmallow gave into the flames and fell off the stick with a pathetic sizzle. Kenma couldn't hold in a laugh. Kuroo grumbled something under his breath and grabbed another marshmallow out of the bag. Kenma patiently waited for his marshmallow to turn a nice golden brown before retracting it from the fire. He blew on it a little before taking it off the stick.

 

"Crispy on the outside, gooey on the inside. Perfect." Kenma murmured.

 

Kuroo laughed while re-attempting to cook a marshmallow. "Sounds like someone I know."

 

"How am I crispy and gooey?" Kenma frowned. "You make no sense, Kuroo."

 

 Kuroo smiled. "I wasn't talking about that. I was referring to the perfect part."

 

"Oh." Kenma blushed, and suddenly everything including the fire seemed a little too hot and uncomfortable.

 

Kuroo took his marshmallow out of the fire, too. It was slightly burnt, but in Kuroo's opinion, was award-winning, gourmet, and a lot of other things.

 

"Look at this, Kenma." Kuroo shoved it in his face.

 

Kenma leaned back. "Okay..." He reached into the box of graham crackers and took out two.

He assembled the sandwich neatly. But Kuroo, on the other hand, piled his treat together like he was trying to be messy on purpose.

 

"Do we have any chocolate?" Kuroo asked.

 

Kenma reached inside Kuroo's sweatshirt pocket and found an already-opened chocolate bar. He held it up. Kuroo took it and broke it into smaller pieces, taking one shard and placing it in his s'more. Kenma took a fragment of chocolate too but didn't put it in the s'more. Instead, he kept it to eat later.

 

"Hey, mine is bigger than yours." Kuroo teased.

 

Kenma couldn't respond; his mouth was full of marshmallow.

 

"You know," Kuroo wandered. "I've never tried a s'more before. Does it taste okay?"

 

Kenma swallowed the rest of his food. "Of course, it tastes good."

 

Kuroo picked Kenma up and placed him on his lap. Kenma, surprisingly, didn't protest. Instead, he looked up at Kuroo innocently. Kuroo sighed.

 

"What do you want, Kenma?" He asked coyly.

 

Kenma smiled. "What do you think I want?"

 

"I really don't know..." Kuroo murmured. "How about you show me...?"

 

Kenma nodded. "I can just tell you."

 

"Alright then," He said softly. "Tell me."

 

"Can I borrow your phone charger? Mine is breaking." Kenma asked.

 

The mood broke, too.

 

Kuroo blinked. "Oh. Yeah, you can." He was still clutching the uneaten s'more in his hand.

 

Kenma returned his calm gaze to the marshmallows. He reached into the bag to make another s'more, spearing three at once onto the pronged stick. Kuroo took a huge bite of the crunchy graham cracker mixed with melted chocolate and marshmallow. It was surprisingly good.

 

"Hey, Kenma. These are actually pretty good." Kuroo commented, mouth full.

 

Kenma smiled; a small smile. "What did you expect?"

 

He shrugged, grabbing the bag to make another. But not before the howl of wind startled him, and the lights flickered. Kenma whipped around, and the winds continued to beat at the building. The lights flickered again. Kuroo frowned with worry. Kenma grabbed his phone.

 

"Snowstorm." He murmured. "A quarter of the city has already lost power."

 

Kuroo placed another log on the fire, sending up a lively shower of sparks. "Well, we'll be fine. As long as we don't lose power."

 

"Kuroo!" Kenma scolded. "Don't jinx it."

 

As if a wish was granted, the lights went right out. Kuroo cursed and slid Kenma off his lap. He ran over to the light switch and flicked it a few times. Nothing. Kenma sighed. Kuroo sat down on the couch, pulling a blanket over him.

 

"And, we have no power on Christmas Eve," Kuroo announced solemnly.

 

Kenma climbed onto the couch, right next to Kuroo, and stared into the dancing flames. "We have the fire."

 

"You're right," Kuroo murmured. "And we have lots of marshmallows."

 

"What are you suggesting?" Kenma muttered.

 

Nekoma's captain chuckled in spite of himself and the current situation. "We could have a feast. S'mores. That would be pretty cool."

 

Kenma nodded slowly. Kuroo wrapped both his arms around Kenma, who still didn't complain. In fact, he turned towards Kuroo and burrowed his face into his neck.

 

"What are you doing, Kenma?" Kuroo asked.

 

Kenma answered voice muffled. "I'm doing exactly what you said. You said it yourself! 'Now we're going to have to be all warm, toasty, and cuddly!'."

 

"Well, I'm not very warm." Kuroo retorted, dragging another blanket over himself and Kenma. Kenma sighed blissfully.

 

"That's my favorite blanket."

 

Kuroo examined the blanket. It was knitted, with Nekoma's banner embroidered on top. "Yeah. It is nice. Who made this?"

 

"Akaashi. Bokuto's friend." Kenma muttered, drawing the blanket even closer to him.

 

Kuroo raised an eyebrow. "Akaashi knits? I can't see him knitting. Oh. Wait. I can."

 

"You're so weird, Kuroo," Kenma muttered.

 

Kuroo rested his chin on top of Kenma's head. "I love you too, Kenma."

 

"I like how you say my name, Kuroo." He blurted out suddenly.

 

Kuroo smiled. "What? Kenma?"

 

"You say my name differently than the others," Kenma explained. "I love it. Then I'll always be able to tell it's you."

 

Kuroo found himself blushing with pride before he could say anything. "Kenma."

 

"Say it again."

 

"Not unless you ask politely." Kuroo grinned wickedly.

 

Kenma sighed. "Kuroo, please. Say my name."

 

"Fine. Kenma Kozume. Kenma, Kenma, Kenma. Kenma." Kuroo said every word carefully, slowly.

 

Kenma shuddered. And it wasn't because he was cold. He gazed dreamily into the fire, which was still burning bright.

 

"What's wrong _, Kenma_? Did I poison you with my words?" Kuroo asked playfully.

 

Kenma returned his gaze to Kuroo. His eyes sparkled in the dark, reflecting the flame and enticing Kenma.

"Your words can be pretty toxic, Kuroo."

 

"Is that so, _Kenma_?" Kuroo pulled the younger boy closer to him.

 

Kenma yawned. "Yeah..."

 

"Well, someone's getting tired," Kuroo announced.

 

Kenma looked at Kuroo with inquisitive, golden eyes. "It's me." He rested his head on Kuroo's chest. He could hear his heartbeat.

 

"And me," Kuroo added, stifling a huge yawn. "I'm tired, too. It's late."

 

"I'm more tired than you, Kuroo. You drank coffee this morning." Kenma yawned again.

 

Kuroo sighed. "Alright, don't fall asleep yet, Kenma. I have your gift." he reached under the couch and pulled out a long black box. For a split second, Kenma's breath hitched in his throat, and he shook his head. It's not what he thought it was.... was it? Kuroo smiled and opened the box.

 

Inside, cushioned by silk, was a beautiful silver bracelet. It was made of three intertwining strands that looped and twisted around each other. The strands held a red ruby in place.

 

"Aw, Kuroo," Kenma whispered, awed by how a piece of metal could hold such beauty.

 

Kuroo nodded. "Look on the back."

 

Kenma turned the bracelet over, and on the back, where the clasp was, there was a flattened section, engraved with some words. But the words were engraved in reverse and raised above the metal.

 

"Why'd you do that?" Kenma asked.

 

"Just read it..."

 

"Kenma.... Kozume..." Kenma breathed. "Enteral harmony... love, Kuroo...! You're too nice!" He announced, blushing furiously.

 

Kuroo grinned. "I knew you'd like it."

 

He took the bracelet from Kenma, holding it between two fingers. Kuroo lifted Kenma's hand up and slipped the jewelry onto his slender wrist. Kenma shivered at the cold metal on his skin but held his wrist up to the light from the crackling fire. The bracelet fit perfectly, and the engraved part sat just at the part where you could take someone's pulse.

 

"I won't be able to wear this playing volleyball, Kuroo." Kenma worried, pressing down on the engraved section.

 

Kuroo nodded. "I know. Take it off for a second. Look at your wrist."

 

"Why?" Kenma questioned, but slid the bracelet off his hand and glanced at his wrist. He gasped. Where the engraving had been, had left an imprint on his skin. Now, the words were pressed into him, faintly though.

 

Kenma Kozume - Enteral harmony - Love, Kuroo

 

"The longer you wear it, the clearer it is," Kuroo whispered.

 

Kenma agreed. "The longer I wear it, the deeper your love goes..."

 

"Wow, Kenma. You're cheesy." Kuroo noted. "Not that I mind."

 

Kenma sighed. Kuroo smiled. The fire crackled merrily, sending up another shower of sparks. Flames illuminated the room dimly. It gave a soft orange glow to the whole room. He watched the light reflect off Kenma's bracelet, the dancing light patterns mesmerizing. The ruby in the middle of the bracelet seemed to sparkle and flash in the firelight. It reminded Kuroo of a cat's eye. Kuroo tilted the jewelry back and forth; the light reflecting off the gem in different ways. Doing this was surprisingly entertaining.

 

The fire was now dying down to a few embers, the afterglow of a majestic blaze. The winds howled and shrieked around them, but Kuroo knew Kenma was safe in his arms. Snow beat against the side of their apartment. Kenma stirred against Kuroo. He tucked Kenma deeper into the blankets. Now without such a big fire, the room was starting to get a little chilly.

 

"Kuroo," Kenma murmured sleepily. "Have I ever told you..."

 

"Told me what?" Kuroo asked, threading his fingers through Kenma's hair.

 

Kenma smiled; another tiny smile. "...Told you how much I love you?"

 

"No, only about ten million times. I love you too, Kenma." Kuroo mused, grinning. Despite the power outage and a horrid snowstorm, this was one of Kuroo's best Christmases. And his first with Nekoma's setter. Kenma. It wasn't perfect, but getting to spend time alone with his friends and the one person he could actually truly love made everything seem a little less bleak in a time like this.

 

The fire smoldered out to the last, glowing embers. Kuroo glanced down at Kenma. The younger boy was asleep, breathing softly into Kuroo. Kenma always looked so peaceful when he slept. More peaceful than usual, anyway. He turned his gaze to the clock. 11:58. Almost Christmas.

 

He let his eyes travel around the room, how cozy and small it was. The couch they lay on was courtesy of Daichi, as a gift for Kenma and Kuroo together. The clock, which now read 11:59, was made of maple wood. From Kenma. Kuroo's bag lay in the center of the floor, completing the look of a messy room. But the mess made them feel right at home. He also spotted Kenma's volleyball shoes somewhere, and another volleyball in the hallway. Cozy. Perfect. Just right.

 

The clock turned to 12:00. Midnight.

 

Kuroo leant down and whispered in Kenma's ear, "Merry Christmas, Kenma."

 

"Merry Christmas," Kenma replied, half-asleep. "I love you, Kuroo."

 

The fire died to its last embers, and Kuroo and Kenma stayed like that. Asleep on the couch, together. Warm, toasty, and cuddly, until the morning sun rose on a glittering new day.

 

 

 


	9. Interlude – Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas

Have a merry little Christmas, baby  
Have yourself a merry little Christmas  
Let your heart be light  
From now on our troubles will be out of sight

Have yourself a merry little Christmas  
Make the yuletide gay  
From now on your troubles will be miles away  
Here we are as in olden days  
Happy golden days of yore  
Faithful friends, who are dear to us  
Gather near to us once more  
Through the years we all will be together  
If the fates allow  
Hang a shining star upon the highest bough

So have yourself a merry little Christmas now  
Oh, ooh oh, yeah

Have a merry little Christmas, baby  
Have a merry little Christmas, baby, oh, ooh, oh, yeah  
Have a merry little Christmas, baby (Have a merry little Christmas)  
Here we are as in olden days  
Happy golden days of yore  
Faithful friends, who are dear to us  
Gather near to us once more  
Through the years we all will be together  
If the fates allow  
Hang a shining star upon the highest bough  
So, have yourself a merry little Christmas  
Have yourself a merry little Christmas  
Have yourself a merry little Christmas now

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Song credits: Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas (Pentatonix)


	10. Christmas Morning

Iwa-chan's skis slid down the wall and clattered to the floor for the tenth time that morning. They had gotten back from skiing the night before and were now tidying up the house in time for the Christmas Morning party. He cursed under his breath and placed the skis up against the door, jamming then between the doorknob so they would definitely stay.

 

Oikawa came bounding down the hallway, still in his pajamas.

 

"It's Christmas, Iwa-chan!" He hugged Iwaizumi from behind.

 

Iwaizumi tried his best to not drop the skis again and turned around. "Hurry up. We have to clean up the house for the party."

 

"It's clean!" Oikawa glanced around until his gaze came to a stop in the hallway, littered with ski equipment. They were too tired to put everything away properly when they came back last night. "Uh, okay, maybe it's not that clean..."

 

Oikawa bent down and picked up his skis, swinging them over his shoulder and marching over to the closet. His slippers made soft sounds on the wooden floor. A clump of leftover snow fell off one ski and landed on his head.

 

"That's cold!" He tossed the skis into the closet with a bang and slammed the door shut.

 

Iwa-chan hurried over. "Idiot! I installed pegs in there for a reason! So use them!" He picked up one ski and leaned it against the yellow pegs on the closet wall.

 

"Oh, those. I thought they were decorations!" Oikawa joked, grabbing his ski boots and sliding them into the closet too.

 

Iwaizumi rolled his eyes. "The only decorations we have are on the tree." He glanced over at the huge tree in the living room of their house. It shone brightly even in the soft morning light.

 

Oikawa smiled and looked at the clock. "It's almost ten. Akaashi and Bokuto should be coming over to help us cook breakfast soon."

 

"Akaashi will be helping us cook. Not Bokuto." Iwaizumi corrected.

 

They both nodded at the same time.

 

Iwaizumi placed his ski equipment in the closet and shut the door carefully. He brushed his hands off.

 

"Now that was fast. I knew the pegs would help."

 

There was a sharp knock at the door and Oikawa jumped up.

 

"You're still in your pajamas." Iwaizumi pointed out。

 

"So?" Oikawa shrugged, running over to the door. "I bet you Bokuto is, too."

 

"Akaashi would never let him." Iwaizumi retorted, swinging open the door.

 

Sure enough, Akaashi stood in the doorway, holding an apple pie, and Bokuto was carrying a bag of gifts. Wearing an owl onesie. It even had a little crest of feathers at the top.

 

"What did I tell you, Iwa-chan? Bokuto's great!" Oikawa helped Akaashi carry the pie inside and told Bokuto to put the gifts by the tree.

 

Iwaizumi hung up their coats in the other closet without the ski equipment. For some reason, he loved being hospitable and welcoming people into their house. Perhaps that was why he was the team mother.

 

He heard the fridge door open and Oikawa dragging out a tray of ingredients to make a huge breakfast for everyone. Bokuto greeted Iwaizumi with a hug and went off to the kitchen to watch the cooking.

 

The doorbell rang and Iwaizumi opened the door to Hinata holding a tray of cookies and Kageyama bundled up in a coat.

 

"Merry Christmas," He greeted them. "You can put the cookies in the kitchen, but away from Bokuto."

 

Hinata nodded, smiling. He led Kageyama inside. Iwaizumi was about to close the door when he saw Kuroo and Kenma outside, crunching through the soft snow on their front lawn. He waved them inside. Kenma sat down on the couch next to the Christmas tree and pulled out his phone, not even bothering to take off his coat.

 

Kuroo hung up his coat himself and bounded over to the kitchen, where he was welcomed with a loud exclamation from Bokuto.

 

"Hey hey hey, Kuroo! It's been two whole days!"

 

"I know!" Kuroo responded.

 

There was a clatter of pots and pans, and Akaashi yelling. "Guys, if you're not going to help cook, get out of the kitchen!"

 

Bokuto and Kuroo ran out of the kitchen and into the same room as Kenma, who looked up in fear. Iwaizumi sighed and stepped into the kitchen to see how things were doing. It was organized chaos.

 

Akaashi had all six burners on the stove going, cooking bacon, eggs, and pancakes, all at once.

 

"Do you need help, Akaashi?" Iwaizumi offered. It looked hard to cook with so many things going on.

 

Akaashi shook his head. "No, I'm fine. Thank you for asking, though." He flipped a pancake in one pan while scrambling eggs with another spatula.

 

Iwaizumi nodded, impressed with the setter's culinary skills. He heard another knock on the door.

 

_That must be the rest of them._

 

He stuck his head out into the hallway in time to see the door open by itself. Sugawara, Daichi, Asahi and Nishinoya stepped inside, along with Tsukishima and Yamaguchi.

 

"You forgot to lock the door, Iwaizumi-san." Sugawara pointed out, locking it carefully behind him. He tugged his coat off, gathered the other coats and hung them up in the closet.

 

Iwaizumi grinned. "I trust you, Sugawara."

 

"I know that," Suga smiled in return. "But you can't trust Noya-san."

 

The wild libero looked up from under the Christmas tree, where he was placing gifts down and shaking his own, trying to guess what was inside.

 

"Ohhh, I know what this one is!" He declared, holding a triangular box up high in the air and waving it around.

 

Asahi took the box from Nishinoya gently and set it down by the tree. He sighed. "Noya-san, how about you go check what's for breakfast?"

 

Nishinoya nodded and ran off. Asahi shot an apologetic glance at the group by the door. Daichi and Sugawara shrugged at the same time.

 

"Does anyone need help in the kitchen?" Sugawara asked Iwaizumi, who had taken the huge bag of gifts from Daichi and was currently trying to find out how to fit them near the tree without displacing Kenma from his current base camp.

 

Iwaizumi looked up from moving gifts. "You can go watch the Akaashi Cooking Show. He's doing just fine."

 

There was the sound of a plate shattering and Bokuto screeching, accompanied by Yamaguchi freaking out and Tsukki laughing.

 

"Yeah, he's doing fine." Suga nodded and ran over to the kitchen to sort everything out.

 

"It isn't Christmas without a plate breaking!" Kuroo declared, running down the hallway with a mop and towel. "I'll save you, Bokuto!"

 

Iwaizumi sighed, surveying his surroundings.

 

Kageyama and Hinata sat on the couch, arguing over whether eggs were better scrambled or hard-boiled. Kenma was wrapped up in a pile of blankets, a pillow on his head, playing Neko Atsume on his phone. Asahi and Nishinoya were in the kitchen helping Akaashi clean up the mess while Tsukki and Yamaguchi kept a careful eye on the abandoned cooking. Kuroo brandished a mop wildly, pretending to decapitate Bokuto.

 

_It's not Christmas until they're all here. And, they're all here._

 

~~~

 

"Just open your gift already, Yamaguchi!" Nishinoya clapped his hands in anticipation. "I bought it for a reason!"

 

Yamaguchi sighed and carefully tore open the strangely shaped present. "I don't want to ruin the nice wrapping paper!"

 

They were all sitting in the living room around the tree, passing around gifts and watching everyone open them. Kenma was off his phone, which was a Christmas miracle. Instead, he was fiddling with the clasp of a new bracelet he wore on his wrist.

 

There was a cry of delight from Nishinoya when Yamaguchi pulled a pair of new skates out from the nest of wrapping paper.

 

"Oh my god, Noya-san. These are beautiful." He turned the skates over in his hands and gasped. Engraved on the blade of each skate was Yamaguchi's name.

 

Yamaguchi smiled so wide his whole face lit up. "Thank you so much, Noya-san. This means so much to me..." He hugged the skates close to him and handed Nishinoya a triangular box, his gift.

 

Nishinoya thanked Yamaguchi and tore through the wrapping with no mercy. Akaashi collected the papers and threw them in the wastebasket.

 

"Aha! Chocolate!" Nishinoya shoved the box towards Daichi. "Can I eat some now? Please?"

 

Daichi shook his head, smiling. "We haven't had breakfast yet! Wait, or you'll spoil your appetite."

 

Nishinoya groaned and set the box down. He grabbed a gift from under the tree.

 

"This one is for Bokuto!" He tossed it to the captain of Fukurodani.

 

Bokuto caught it with ease and shredded the paper eagerly, ready to see what he got from Nishinoya. The snowflake-patterned wrapping paper fell away to reveal a pair of fuzzy slippers with owls on them. Bokuto gasped.

 

"Wow, these are amazing!" He slid them onto his feet. "And they fit! Thank you!" Bokuto grinned at Nishinoya and reached under the tree for another gift.

 

"Oh, this one is for Kageyama-kun!" He handed the gift over to Kageyama. "It's from Akaashi and me."

 

Kageyama nodded in thanks and opened his gift. His eyes lit up the moment he saw it. "Oh wow, this is just what I wanted..."

 

Hinata leaned over. "What is it? Let me see!"

 

Kageyama tossed aside some wrapping paper and held up a new volleyball bag, eyes still shining. Akaashi smiled, pleased that Kageyama liked his gift. Bokuto grinned even wider.

 

"Thank you, Akaashi, and thank you, Bokuto." He said, setting the bag down next to him. Hinata observed it with a curious eye, peeking into all of the pockets and pouches.

 

Kageyama handed Sugawara his gift and they continued opening gifts in this manner until everyone was surrounded by their presents and gifts. And quite a lot of wrapping paper, which Iwa-chan and Akaashi quickly collected and threw into the recycling. Hinata kept a bow to stick on his head, and Nishinoya tied a lot of ribbons around Yamaguchi's skates.

 

At some point, Akaashi and Sugawara went into the kitchen to bring out the food on huge trays, which summoned Bokuto and Kuroo to eat as much as possible.

 

"Food!" Hinata bounded gleefully over to Akaashi, who handed him a slice of bread and some bacon, slipping a meat bun in there too, just because.

 

Kageyama grabbed a glass of milk and opened the container of cookies for everyone to enjoy.

 

"Cookies for breakfast?" Nishinoya asked. "Sweet!"

 

After everyone was seated at the huge dining room table, Akaashi brought out more food from the kitchen with the help of Oikawa, who was wearing a Santa hat. Which was his gift from Kuroo, and one of his favorite gifts?

 

Iwa-chan pushed his gifts into a neat pile, setting the giant Toblerone from Oikawa at the top. Getting that type of chocolate as a Christmas gift for Iwaizumi was a running tradition for Oikawa. And a running joke.

 

He pulled up a chair next to Oikawa and Nishinoya, both of which were cramming food into their mouths at an alarming pace. Iwaizumi watched Nishinoya inhale two slices of bread in which he saw as one bite.

 

"Noya-san, slow down," Iwa-chan warned.  "You don't want to choke."

 

Nishinoya looked up, mouth full. "I won't choke!" He declared around a piece of bread.

 

Oikawa laughed, taking a sip of his orange juice.

"Do you want some, Iwa-chan?"

 

Iwaizumi took the glass and peered inside. It was almost empty. "You drank the whole thing."

 

"Just get Akaashi to make some more. He's good at cooking!"

 

"Orange juice and cooking have no connection whatsoever."

 

Oikawa shrugged, taking the glass from Iwa-chan and sliding it down Fukurodani's setter. Akaashi was currently occupied, lecturing Bokuto on saving food for Kenma. He looked up when the glass knocked against his plate.

 

"Oh, did you want more?"

 

Oikawa nodded and Akaashi ran into the kitchen, returning with a pitcher filled to the brim with juice.

 

"Here you go," He refilled Oikawa's glass and handed it to him. "I'll leave it here if any of you want more."

 

"It's fresh squeezed," Sugawara added.

 

Kenma slid the pitcher towards himself and poured a small glass of juice for himself. Kuroo nodded in approval.

 

"Look, Kenma's actually eating something!" He clapped his hands. "Yaku would be so proud," Kuroo promised.

 

Kenma looked up, half of a meat bun sticking out of his mouth. He frowned. Kuroo shrugged and continued eating.

 

Sugawara held up a platter of pancakes. "There's more food if anyone wants it!"

 

The platter's supplies were immediately decimated by Daichi, Bokuto, and Kuroo.

 

Akaashi sighed, shooting a disapproving glare at Bokuto.

 

"Well, there's always more."

 

~~~~~

 

Iwaizumi watched nervously as Nishinoya stumbled out the door with a pile of gifts almost taller than him.

 

"Watch the doorframe," He cautioned, holding the door open for the excited libero. "And be careful down the stairs."

 

"Don't worry about me, Iwaizumi-san!" Nishinoya laughed, jumping down the stairs two at a time. Asahi followed holding his bag of gifts.

 

"Merry Christmas, Asahi-san." Iwa-chan waved. "Drive carefully."

 

"What are you, my mother?" Nishinoya asked, already down the stairs and ready to go.

 

Iwa-chan shook his head. "Sometimes that's how I feel."

 

The group had finished breakfast and were on their way out. Kenma walked by, holding a whole apple pie on top of his other gifts. He looked at it excitedly.

 

"Is he going to eat the whole thing?" Oikawa asked Kuroo, joining Iwa-chan in saying farewell to their guests.

 

Kuroo shook his head. "No, I will."

 

Kenma poked Kuroo in the stomach. "You already ate enough." He muttered.

 

Kuroo chuckled. "Oh, okay. Merry Christmas, Iwaizumi-san. And you too, Oikawa-san!" He herded an apple pie-obsessed Kenma down the icy steps. Oikawa waved goodbye and turned to Daichi and Suga.

 

"Are you guys heading out, too?" Iwa-chan asked.

 

Sugawara shrugged. "I can help clean up the kitchen if you want."

 

Oikawa shook his head. "No, you guys go and enjoy yourselves. I'm sure Iwa-chan can do it himself."

 

"You'll be helping." Iwaizumi corrected.

 

Oikawa sighed. "Fine..."

 

Daichi laughed whole-heartedly. "Are you sure you don't need help?"

 

Iwaizumi nodded. "Yes, we're sure. Do you need help with your gifts?"

 

"I hope not," Daichi shouldered a bulging bag of presents. "I want to see if I can carry this whole thing."

 

Sugawara stepped out the door into the crisp winter air. "Alright then, we'll see you around. Merry Christmas, and happy New Year!"

 

"Merry Christmas to you, too!" Oikawa grinned.

 

Yamaguchi was still clutching his skates to his chest as he left, telling Tsukki how much they were going to have to go skating now that he had a new pair of skates.

 

"Merry Christmas!" Iwaizumi called after them, and Yamaguchi turned around to thank the couple for a lovely Christmas morning.

 

Oikawa stuck his head out the door. "Enjoy your skates! Maybe you can come up to the mountains with us and come skating on the frozen lakes!"

 

"I'd like that a lot!" Yamaguchi agreed. Tsukki nodded, too.

 

Iwa-chan watched them walk down the path to the bus stop, but not before Akaashi tapped him on the shoulder.

 

"Iwaizumi-san, thank you for inviting us over. We had a good time." He bowed politely.

 

Iwa-chan smiled. "No, thank you, Akaashi. You cooked breakfast for all of us. And we all enjoyed it a lot."

 

"Especially Bokuto-san," Akaashi noted, flicking his gaze over to Bokuto.

 

"Especially!" Bokuto grinned, sliding a wool hat over his white-streaked hair.

 

Iwa-chan glanced at the hat. "Oh, did you make that, Akaashi?"

 

Akaashi nodded. "Yeah, I knitted it."

 

"You knit?" Oikawa gasped.

 

"Yeah. I learned when it was Arts Week at Fukurodani. And it's quite fun. You should try it."

 

"So the rumors are true! I told you, Kageyama-kun!" Hinata came running down the hallway with Kageyama following behind him.

 

"What's the rush?" Bokuto asked as Hinata sped by him.

 

Hinata skidded to a stop a few inches away from the door. "I promised my mother I would be back in time for our Christmas lunch with Kageyama and his family!"

 

Akaashi sighed. "You can't miss a family meal!"

 

"Yeah, you can't!" Iwa-chan agreed, shooing them out the door. "Sorry, we kept you! If your mother asks, blame me!"

 

 Kageyama thudded down the steps, Hinata yelling at him the whole way. Akaashi and Iwa-chan listened to their cries fade away into the cold morning of Christmas.

 

"Well, I better be on my way." Akaashi thanked Oikawa and Iwaizumi again for the gifts and beckoned Bokuto out the door.

 

"Merry Christmas, Akaashi!" Oikawa called after them as Akaashi led Bokuto down the steps and through the trees.

 

He turned to Iwaizumi. "Merry Christmas to you, too, Iwa-chan."

 

"Yeah. Merry Christmas, Oikawa."

  

 


End file.
